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Washington Post reporter Juliet Eilperin will present “The Battle Over Planet Earth: Environmental Policy in an Era of Political Polarization” 7-8:15 p.m. Monday, April 2 in Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, room 104.
A book signing and reception will follow. Sponsored by the Policy Studies program and the economics and business department, the event is free and open to the public.
Eilperin will address the politics of the environment in the U.S. Congress and present barriers to enacting bi-partisan proposals.
In her recent book Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the U.S. House of Representatives, Eilperin argues that warlike tactics, manipulation, and strategic takeovers have replaced compromise in the House.
Mark Crain, Simon Professor of Political Economy and chair of Policy Studies, believes Eilperin’s visit will emphasize some of the most important and challenging issues facing the U.S. government today.
“Climate change and environmental quality are two hotly-debated and important issues, and Ms. Eilperin is a close observer of the latest proposals and the status of the political debate in Washington,” says Crain. “For nearly a decade as a reporter for the Washington Post,she has covered theUnited StatesHouse of Representatives and the environment for the national desk, reporting on science, policy, and politics.
“The purpose of bringing prominent speakers like Ms. Eilperin to Lafayette is threefold. Specifically, I want to heighten awareness of the most important issues of our time: in this case, the environment and climate change. Second, I think students need to ask whether the U.S. legislative process is capable of solving monumentally important problems, and if it cannot, they should think about what structural reforms are needed. Third, Ms. Eilperin’s career in journalism provides a fascinating example for students who are looking for professions in which they can apply their interest in politics.”
Crain sees Eilperin’s work as a positive example of how students can successfully combine knowledge from different disciplines.
“Policy Studies is an interdisciplinary major, and Ms. Eilperin’s work provides an excellent illustration of how to combine scientific knowledge with knowledge of the political process, and why integration of separate fields is important to understanding and solving crucial issues,” he says.
Eilperin graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in 1992, where she received a bachelor’s degree in politics with a certificate in Latin American studies. In the fall of 1992, she went to Seoul, South Korea on a Luce Scholarship, which allowed her to cover politics and economics for an English-language magazine. Upon returning to Washington, Eilperin wrote for Louisiana and Florida newspapers at States News Service and then joined Roll Call newspaper in 1994. In March 1998, she joined the Washington Post as its House of Representatives reporter, where she covered the impeachment of Bill Clinton, lobbying, legislation, and four national congressional campaigns.
Since April 2004, Eilperin has covered the environment for the national desk, reporting on science, policy, and politics in areas including climate changes, oceans, and air quality. In pursuit of these stories, she has gone scuba diving with sharks in the Bahamas, trekking on the Arctic tundra, and searching for rare insects in the caves of Tennessee.
During her first year at the Washington Post, Eilperin wrote over 200 stories, making her the most prolific writer on the news staff. In spring 2005, she served as the McGraw Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, teaching political reporting to undergraduate and graduate students.