'Ethanol: Fueling Debate' is Oct. 15 E.N. Thompson Forum at UNL

The next E.N. Thompson Forum lecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln -- which is also the inaugural Charles and Linda Wilson Dialogue on Domestic Issues -- features Douglas Durante and Jerry Taylor, discussing the benefits and drawbacks of ethanol. "Ethanol: Fueling Debate" begins at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 12th and R streets in Lincoln.

The Wilson Dialogue will be moderated by Bill Lambrecht, Washington bureau chief for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Richard Perrin, professor of agricultural economics at UNL, will deliver a pre-lecture talk at 6:30 p.m. in the Steinhart room of the Lied Center. All Thompson Forum lectures are free and open to the public, but free tickets are required for all lectures. Tickets are available at the Lied Center ticket office, (402) 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231, or at the Nebraska Union or Westfield Gateway.

Durante has worked in the fields of energy, transportation and the environment since 1977. He was the director of public affairs for the National Alcohol Fuels Commission and served as a special assistant in the Office of Alcohol Fuels at the U.S. Department of Energy. Durante has served on numerous state and federal advisory committees, was chair of the Fuels Subcommittee of the Federal Biomass Advisory Committee and served on the Governors' Ethanol Coalition's Biomass Advisory Committee. He also served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Fuels Advisory Committee and the Department of Energy's Business Roundtable Advisory Group. In 1987, Durante helped form the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, a nonprofit organization.

Taylor is a widely cited and influential right-of-center critic of federal energy and environmental policy. He has served on numerous congressional advisory bodies and has testified frequently on Capitol Hill regarding various energy and environmental policy matters. He is the author or coauthor of numerous policy studies and has contributed to several anthologies, including "Energy and American Society -- 13 Myths," "Market Liberalism: A New Paradigm for the 21st Century," and "Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet."

Lambrecht is the author of two books, including the acclaimed "Dinner at the New Gene Cafe," which appeared on Amazon.com's Top Ten list for Best Non-Fiction of 2001. He has been on the campaign trail for every presidential election since 1984, covered 12 national political conventions, six presidential inaugurations and dozens of political debates and primary elections. Beyond electoral politics, he has written extensively at the intersection of politics and science on a variety of public policy issues from biotechnology to ethanol. Lambrecht makes frequent public presentations, most recently on behalf of his latest book, "Big Muddy Blues: True Tales and Twisted Politics Along Lewis and Clark's Missouri River."

The forum will be broadcast live on the UNL Web site (www.unl.edu), Lincoln TimeWarner Cable Channel 21, UNL campus TV Channel 8, NEBSAT 105 and KRNU radio station (90.3 FM). Thanks to a grant from the Cooper Foundation, the forum lectures are available for viewing across the state of Nebraska. The Nebraska Humanities Council is collaborating with colleges and universities to simulcast the forum lectures at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte, Central Community College in Columbus, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Wayne State College, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. For more information, visit http://enthompson.unl.edu.

The Thompson Forum is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, the Lied Center and UNL. It has a mission of promoting better understanding of world events and issues to all Nebraskans. In 1990, the series was named in honor of E.N. "Jack" Thompson (1913-2002), a 1933 graduate of the University of Nebraska, who served as president of the Cooper Foundation from 1964 to 1990 and as its chairman from 1990 until his death.

CONTACT: Marcia White, Coordinator, E.N. Thompson Forum, (402) 472-9443