15 March 2007
U.S. University Students Acting To Slow Climate Change
Lessons learned in the classroom prompt environmental stewardship
Washington — In their classrooms, American college students are learning about environmental issues such as climate change. Outside their classrooms, many are taking actions to mitigate the effects of activities linked to climate change.
Understanding the Earth’s environment and climate is part of many students' education. All students at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, are required to take a class on environmental issues. At Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona, where the first School of Sustainability was established in 2006, students can earn a degree in sustainability by taking classes that examine the scientific and economic impact of using sustainable resources.
Across the country, students work with faculty and community members to find ways to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and maintain more energy-efficient campuses. Researchers have shown that much of the global warming documented in recent decades has been caused by carbon dioxide emitted by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. (See “U.S. Officials Praise Climate Change Report.”)
In part because of student activism, universities are working to limit their dependence on energy sources that emit greenhouse gasses. Swarthmore College, in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, plans to meet 35 percent of its total energy needs from wind-power sources. Carleton College's wind turbine produces enough electricity to supply 40 percent of the electricity to its Northfield, Minnesota, campus. Currently, at least eight universities say they receive 100 percent of their power from renewable sources: Bates College in Lewiston, Maine; Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine; Colby College in Waterville, Maine; Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington; New York University in New York City; Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington; University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma; and College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.
Universities also are designing new buildings and updating older buildings to be energy efficient. A new building at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, includes water-saving mechanisms such as low-flow toilets and landscape plants that require less water. Students at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, campaigned for and helped install solar panels that will generate about 1.6 kilowatts to power fluorescent ceiling lights in a science laboratory. Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, provides interest-free loans for building projects that are designed to reduce pollution and energy consumption.
At some campuses, students have converted shuttle busses to run on biodiesel, which is made from waste vegetable oil found in dining halls.
These vehicles emit less carbon dioxide than gasoline-powered vehicles. Schools also are encouraging carpooling, improving their public transportation and adding bike lanes to minimize fuel use.
Colleges and universities understand that climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century and without energy-use reforms, the ability to achieve other scientific, health, economic and environmental goals will be compromised, according to Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature, a nonprofit organization in Boston. Second Nature helped organize the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pact signed by leaders of more than 130 colleges in the United States who have pledged to achieve “climate neutrality” on their campuses and to encourage their communities to do the same. Climate neutrality is achieved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible and taking steps, such as planting additional trees, to offset the emissions that cannot be eliminated.
University presidents pledge to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within two years of signing the pledge. The plan includes a target date for achieving climate neutrality, interim goals for achieving this, actions to be taken to teach students about sustainability, and actions to expand research on climate change.
However, university leaders are not expected to wait two years to begin making changes, Cortese said. Among the actions universities are asked to take immediately are purchasing energy-efficient appliances and encouraging students and staff to use public transportation.
By researching new solutions and by using cleaner energy sources on their campuses, universities become examples that their communities can emulate, Cortese said.
There are many reasons why colleges have been at the forefront in mitigating climate change, Cortese said. Higher education is often the leader in new scientific research, including that on climate change, he said, adding if changes are not made, climate change will affect not only college students' future but their children's future.
The full text of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment is available on the organization's Web site.
