Committee will make suggestions to UP president
By Ame Phitwong
The UP administration now includes a new campus sustainability group that makes direct recommendations to University president, the Rev. William Beauchamp, C.S.C.
The new presidential advisory committee has replaced the environmental task force, giving the University's environmental efforts more stability.
"The change took place because sustainability is becoming such an important area of concern at this university. If we left (issues regarding sustainability) up to the environmental task force, which was not really an officially recognized committee, things are too dependent on particular individuals," Bill Barnes, chair of the sustainability committee said in an e-mail.
Barnes explained that when those certain individuals leave, a group like the environmental task force often disappears.
"By institutionalizing through a presidential advisory committee, the committee will always get fresh official administration, faculty, staff and student appointments each year. The committee also makes recommendations directly to the president, something the environmental task force did not always do," Barnes said.
The description of the new presidential advisory committee is found on the UP Web site. The committee states that the principle of sustainability drives people to recognize and take action to meet environmental, social and economic needs of the current generation without compromising the future generation's ability to meet its own needs.
Furthermore, the sustainability committee advises the president on matters that will impact everyone involved with the university in the long term, as well as the economy.
"The committee is important because it will help move UP forward in the area of environmental sustainability, awareness, and action," ASUP President David Gregg said. He believes the committee will be instrumental in making UP a national and global leader in environmental awareness and action.
The duties of the sustainability committee include monitoring the progress of specific sustainability goals and making recommendations for improvement. It also will assist and support sustainability education efforts.
Barnes explained that the new committee is part of a "broader pattern" at UP. He said that the new sustainability committee will be thinking strategically about sustainability on campus and sharing it with the president. Over the summer, Beauchamp signed the President's climate commitment, creating a University promise to environmental awareness and climate neutrality.
Showing its commitment to climate change awareness, the university will host a statewide event at the Chiles Center on Jan. 31, 2008, called Focus the Nation.
On Monday, the committee met for the first time to discuss some topics of concern for the coming year. According to Gregg, the committee talked about creating a charter, its goals and potential action items the it pursue.
"At this point we are in the planning stages of action items," Gregg said. "We do hope to implement change, though."
Gregg believes that the recognition and eventual action of the committee will positively influence students because it will address issues concerning global environmental change. He said this matter is the biggest challenge posed to the current generation.
"Everyone on campus can help UP become a more sustainable place. The committee can't do it alone, we need the enthusiasm and participation of everyone," Barnes said.
Despite the enthusiasm, Barnes said the committee will be rational about its efforts.
"That includes trying to identify and to pluck the lowest hanging fruit first," Barnes said. One example was replacing the incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
"They reduce a lot of carbon dioxide in use and also quickly save money for the university," he said.
Barnes said that students need to be aware of the tremendous changes that will take place in the world in the next decade, especially on college campuses. He said students can prepare to see UP at the front of the changes and an increase in sustainability-related education in every area. He also said to expect a "green" engineering building, which will be constructed in a way that is sustainable and environmentally friendly and uses more renewable energy.
"If you step back, the truth is that we are all facing a momentous historical decision that will affect the future dramatically," Barnes said.
He said the recent joint Nobel Peace Prize award to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change illustrates the seriousness and the imminent threat of climate change. He said the science shows that the time to act on reducing greenhouse emissions was yesterday.
"So, let's get on with it and do the right thing, which is to really try hard to reduce our carbon footprint," he said.
Last year, the environmental task force was associated with projects concerning sustainability on UP. These activities included supporting various climate change education activities and the use of sustainable transportation, helping students create the Unity Garden, bringing a biodiesel generator to campus and promoting energy efficiency on campus.
The task force was also able to provide resources and information about -environmental concerns, such as creating a Learning@UP climate change site and a sustainability wallet card.
