So you may (or may not) have heard about some of the things that UMBC is doing to reduce its carbon emissions. To give you some background as to why, here is some information about the university's Climate Change Task Force.

What is the CCTF?: 

    The Climate Change Task Force is a mixture of faculty, students, and staff who work together to reduce the university's greenhouse gas emissions.

    The group is charged with (from the UMBC Sustainability Website):

1. "Developing a comprehensive plan to achieve climate neutrality as soon as possible,"

2. "Initiating a number of tangible actions to reduce greenhouse gases while the more comprehensive plan is being developed,"

3. "Making our action plan, inventory, and periodic progress reports publicly available by providing them to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education"

The CCTF is broken down into 4 workgroups that focus on different elements of sustainability. These groups include:

Transportation

Education and Outreach

Energy and Waste

Research and Education

When was the CCTF Founded?: 

     The CCTF was founded in 2007 when President Hrabowski signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. This document expresses the university's concerns about Climate Change's negative impacts on our economic, social and environmental well-being. It also emphasizes the need for the university to be a leader within their community and throughout society in battling Climate Change. 

Who is involved with the CCTF?: 

    Members are people from all over the campus. Students, Faculty, and Staff work together to create and implement sustainability projects. Anyone can be involved!

What does the CCTF do?: 

   Since 2007 the CCTF has created a greenhouse gas inventory that documents where our emissions are coming from and their magnitude. It has also created a Climate Action Plan which outlines the steps that the university will take to reduce its carbon footprint. 

    As part of this plan, the CCTF has implemented a number of different projects including ZipCars, Carpooling for Faculty/Staff, greater use of renewable energy, a green roof on the Patapsco Hall addition, composting at True Grit’s, single stream recycling and increased energy efficiency within Heating and Cooling Systems. Net emissions were reduced by 11% by 2010 from 2007!

If you would like more information about UMBC’s sustainability initiatives check out www.umbc.edu/sustainability  or email mhall13 to get involved.