A panel of veteran policy analysts, environmental advocates, and government and business leaders will discuss how the results of the 2008 elections may shape environmental policy in North Carolina at a free, public seminar at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Duke University.

The seminar will be held at Love Auditorium in the Levine Science Research Center on Duke's West Campus. It is part of the Duke Environmental Leadership ( DEL ) Program's Coca-Cola Seminar Series.

Panelists will be: Ellen Reckhow, chairman, Durham County Board of Commissioners; Ernest Carl, former deputy secretary, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Kris Coracini, program associate, Environmental Defense Fund; Preston Howard, executive director, Manufacturers and Chemical Industry Council; and Jonathan Howes, special assistant to the chancellor, University of North Carolina, and former secretary, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The discussion will be moderated by Bill Holman, director of state policy at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and former secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"By bringing together leaders with a variety of perspectives, we hope to give the public a balanced, 360-degree view into the world of policymaking, especially as it relates to some of our state's most complex and hotly debated environmental issues, such as water, climate change, offshore drilling and sustainable development," said Deborah Rigling Gallagher, executive director of DEL and assistant professor of the practice of resource and environmental policy at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

Ample time will be set aside for members of the audience to meet and ask questions of the panelists, Gallagher said. An eco-reception with sustainable foods will immediately follow the seminar.

Advance registration is encouraged due to limited seating. To register online, visit here >

The DEL seminar series is supported by a grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation.

For additional information, contact Tim Lucas at the Nicholas School's Office of Communications, at ( 919 ) 613-8084 or tdlucas@duke.edu.