BIDDEFORD — Climate change, its effects and its future were the topics of a conference held at the University of New England on Friday.

The event, “Climate Change Solutions: Maine Leadership from Policy to Education,” was co-sponsored by the university, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

The purpose of the event was to raise awareness about climate change and, more specifically, the ways people can work on a regional level to combat climate change, Charles Tilburg, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of marine sciences, said Thursday.

“The other big thing that we’re interested in is that people on a regional scale can combat something as large as global climate change,” Tilburg said.

The day’s events featured a number of speakers addressing the regional successes and national approaches to climate policies, in addition to talks on carbon pricing and energy costs, and an overview of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — a market-based initiative among nine northeastern states to reduce carbon pollution, launched in 2009.

Tilburg said the event was important for both the purposes of educating people about the ways in which they pollute, and about the ways in which they can reduce that pollution.

“One of the biggest things that humans do to contribute to climate change is we drive too much. One of the things we’re going to talk about is other ways of driving,” Tilburg said, mentioning that people can switch to electric cars or hybrids, take public transit or bicycle or walk more. “On an individual level that’s one thing we can do.”

Tilburg said there are other ways to reduce one’s carbon footprint that, although they may not be very “sexy” they are still effective, such as weatherizing one’s home. But even more effective, he said, is to motivate change from within the government.

“Lobby our congressmen, our senators, our representatives to enact change, and that’s very important because our senators in a state like Maine listen to their constituents,” he said.

U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, gave the conference’s keynote address Friday morning, during which he discussed facts about climate change and gave an overview of his recent trip to Greenland, one of the areas most impacted by global rises in temperature.

“Before we can even talk about solutions, we have to focus on what’s the best determination we can make of the facts,” King said. “It’s clear that there is a direct relationship between CO2 and temperature. And, for the life of me, I can’t understand why this is so controversial.”

King said that since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, millions of tons of carbon dioxide have been spewed into the atmosphere from factories, melting glacial ice and contributing to global sea level rise.

By the end of this century, he said, scientists project the sea level to rise by six feet, a problem he labeled as an issue of national security.

“I spend about 50 to 60 percent of my time in Washington (D.C.) dealing with national security. This is a national security issue,” he said. “It’s a force multiplier, it’s an accelerant of conflict.”

King said the costs associated with climate change will be enormous, such as those associated with upgrading infrastructure to withstand higher sea levels. He also said a number of U.S. armed forces bases are at risk of flooding because they are located in low areas.

Above all else, King said, climate change is a moral and ethical issue, and that it’s unfair for humans to take advantage of what nature has provided for them, leaving less for future generations.

“This change is going to make parts of the world virtually uninhabitable,” King said. “We have the planet on loan. We don’t own it.”

“To me, it’s unethical to destroy and compromise something we don’t own and belongs to people who are yet unborn,” he continued. “It’s intergenerational theft for us to use up the capacity of the planet in ways that leave the problem to future generations.”

Tilburg echoed King’s sentiment, saying that the current generation of UNE students will help shape the future of the global climate environment. He said a number of students will become scientists who will perform cutting-edge research on climate science.

But above all, he said, it’s up to those who will become involved in the global market who can make the biggest impact on the planet.

“But also a lot of students are going to become businessmen. Those are the ones I want to know their voices are heard,” Tilburg said. “They need to lobby their government officials. They need to demand products that don’t have large carbon footprints.

“The 22-year-olds actually consume a lot,” he said. “Their changing their ideas of what they want to do can have a large effect on the overall economy or the overall environment.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.