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Tony Cortese
Executive Director of Second Nature
Just a year after AASHE was created, AASHE, EcoAmerica and Second Nature came together to ask college and university presidents to step up and not only commit their institution to become climate neutral, but also to educate their students about climate change. (link to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment website.)
We started with 12. Today, we have 676 institutions in all 50 states. And it includes every type of university and college in the US. From community colleges to big state universities to small private liberal arts colleges, tribal institutions and more. The diversity of the representation of this group is incredible.
Why did we do this? Because we thought the challenge of becoming sustainable as a society, not just in higher ed, required that higher education lead. And, that it not be just one institution leading but that all of them lead. We went to the Presidents because the challenges we face are so profound that only the Presidents could convene all the faculty, staff and students that we need to move society forward. We are 100% of the educational footprint. We educate all the K-12 teachers.
No one expects all the schools to be able to do this overnight. It is a flexible commitment, but it is accountable and tangible and allows a window into all of our progress. What's happened over the last 4 years. Innovation on so many campuses are happening as a result. The president of Chatham University said it was the ACUPCC that allowed the Board of Trustees to have the conversation that lead them to build the first sustainable campus on a 300 acre property outside of Pittsburgh. We have 400 climate action plans and 1,327 GHG inventories. It is the most significant database of what institutions are doing with regard to climate change.
(He shows a chart of Net Signatories, which shows that they have bounced some institutions out of the commitment as a result of their not fulfilling the commitment. So, the commitment does have accountability. But the retention rate is still 95%, which is incredible for a voluntary commitment during this economic downturn.)
The commitment requires that schools develop a Greenhouse Gas Emission and Climate Action Plan within a given timeframe. Accountability and Progress Reports are due in January 2012, which will record all kinds of new information about what schools are doing with regard to renewable energy and climate neutrality planning (they have to set a date).
Here's some examples of what is happening. On Ball State University, they are switching from coal to geothermal heating which will save money. At Butte College, they are the first institution to go grid positive on solar power. And they expect to save $50 million to $75 million over 15 years.
It's taken a lot of partners to make this happen (lot's of logos showing up on the screen). We don't do this in a vacuum. We could not have done it without all these partnerships.
The President's Climate Commitment is a presidential initiative. There is a committee of 26 presidents that provide the direction for the initiative. (Asks them to stand for round of applause.)
We have just started a Presidential Fellows Program in which recently retired presidents that are going to help current presidents implement the commitment. Why? Because they have walked in their shoes. We think the peer-to-peer work is one of the most important things we can do to advance this work. For example, we also have an Implementation Liaison Support Committee that supports the staff working to implement the technical parts of the commitment on their campus.
(Plays a video of President of Arizona State University, Michael Crowe.)
Before I close, I want to thank AASHE for being a partner all along. This year AASHE is playing a particularly critical role in the educational part of the commitment. How do we transform the education? We are delighted to have Cindy Thomashow, AASHE's Education Director, and AASHE, which has all the right connections, to help make that happen.
I'm delighted to see how far we have come in a relatively short time.