Wharton took a break from economics and management yesterday evening.
Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Devra Davis gave a speech on big business and environmental awareness at Jon M. Hunstman Hall.
Davis described the importance of environmental reform.
"The number of people who die from pollution each year is equal to the number that die from car crashes," Davis said. "We must create more markets for cleaner, greener, healthier and safer products."
In her presentation, Davis described a massive toxin-laden smog which blanketed her hometown of Donora, Pa., in 1948. The disaster led to the death of 18 people in a span of 12 hours.
"To have 18 people die at one time... that was a very powerful message," Davis said.
From there the professor branched off and covered a variety of issues.
She talked about the effects of pollution on public health, noting, for example, its effect on increasing the risk of diseases such as cancer.
Davis also spoke about environmental implications, alternate methods of energy and current actions and initiatives on the parts of businesses, organizations and local and federal government.
She especially emphasized the need for continual action.
"Doing something right now is definitely better than doing nothing," she said. "Doing nothing means committing people to poor health."
Although she described human public initiatives as a "hard sell," she was generally optimistic about the trend of environmental awareness.
"There is no global company that is not aware of the issue. Many big companies are actually already moving."
After her speech, Davis opened the floor to questions from the audience.
College student Robert Wood supported the views presented by Davis.
"'How' is definitely a hard question to get at," he said. "So is 'why.'"
Wharton senior John Quattrochi, who helped organize the event, also commented on Davis' political ideology.
"She's coming from a conservative side of pollution activism," Quattrochi said. "More practical, I guess."
Davis highlighted the importance of public talks to "create a broader understanding of pollution," which she hopes will make a significant difference in pollution reform.
