PULLMAN Eric Jessup, associate professor in the WSU School of Economic Sciences, will present “The Role of Transportation in Agricultural, Food, and Energy Policy Development,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 6, in room 202 of the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education. Hosting his presentation is the Common Reading program.The U.S. economy is currently quite dependent on foreign oil and energy. U.S. policy makers are working to develop, design, and implement future policies that attempt to satisfy many, often competing, objectives related to energy independence, climate change, agriculture and food production, and environmental protection. What is often missing in the discussion and debate is the role that transportation plays in affecting these alternative paths and how the outcomes and implications of these various policies may be dramatically influenced.
Jessup has worked in the area of transportation economics for more than 10 years and has been recently involved with several bio-fuel and agricultural/food policy studies at both the regional and national level. His discussion, drawing from these experiences, will touch on the many challenges in designing these types of polices.
The WSU Common Reading Program introduces first-year students to the intellectual life of the university and exposes them to the value of research and to the power of ideas. This year’s book is The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by best-selling author Michael Pollan, who visited campus in January. Common Reading Tuesdays is a lecture series that invites professors and researchers from all fields at WSU to connect their research, field, or experience with first-year students and the issues raised in their common reading book.