The College of St. Scholastica will present a panel discussion, “Northland Energy Futures,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the Mitchell Auditorium on the St. Scholastica campus. A reception will follow the discussion. There is no charge for either event.

The program will feature commentary from local energy experts including David Podratz, general manager of Murphy Oil; Eric Norberg, Minnesota Power executive; and Barry Hanson, author of “Renewable Energy Solutions.”

Panelists will comment on four lectures delivered at St. Scholastica over the past five months by nationally-known energy authorities (see listing below). Panelists will also share their own agendas for the future of energy in the Northland. A question and answer session with the audience will follow.

David Podratz manages Murphy Oil’s Superior refinery, the only refinery in Wisconsin. He has over 27 years of experience in the petroleum refining industry. Prior to joining Murphy Oil in 1994, Podratz worked for the United Refining Company (Warren, PA) and Unocal (Lemont, IL).

Eric Norberg is Minnesota Power’s senior vice president of strategy and planning. He is a member of the executive team responsible for resource planning and growth strategy. He joined the company in 1979 as a transmission planning engineer and has been involved in power generation planning, fuel and rail strategy development, and large power customer relations.

Barry Hanson is an author and energy consultant. He has also worked as an engineer, designing mechanical systems for commercial and industrial projects. His 2004 book “Energy Power Shift: Benefiting from Today’s New Technologies” was endorsed by the Union of Concerned Scientists. His new book, “Energy Leapfrog: Bypassing Business as Usual,” continues with descriptions of emerging technologies that promise to enable a renewable energy economy. The book is scheduled to be released in the spring.

The program is the last in the “Energy Futures” series sponsored by the Alworth Center for the Study of Peace and Justice. Previous lectures in the series have included: 

“Nuclear Power is Not the Answer” with Dr. Helen Caldicott, activist and author 

“Getting Along Without Oil” with Paul Roberts, journalist, TV news commentator, and author of “The End of Oil” 

“Bottomless Wells and Unlimited Energy” with Mark Mills, technology expert, physicist, and coauthor of “The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy”

 “Surviving the Coming Catastrophes” with James Kunstler, journalist and author of “The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century.”

The lecture series is funded by the Lee and Rose Warner Foundation, the Global Awareness Fund of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, the A.H. Zeppa Family Foundation and Reader Weekly.

The Alworth Center for the Study of Peace and Justice seeks to bridge social and political barriers to bring together people of all ages and philosophies to work toward the common goals of peace and justice.

For more information contact Tom Morgan at (218) 723-6442 or tmorgan@css.edu, or see www.css.edu/peaceandjustice.xml