Spring Break
Reinharz signs petition
by Shana D. Lebowitz
Features Editor
News | 9/25/07
Posted online at 9:05 PM EST on 9/24/07
/ Last updated at 8:05 PM EST on 9/24/07
University President Jehuda Reinharz signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment last Wednesday, signifying a pledge to reduce Brandeis' greenhouse gas emissions.
The Commitment, a national initiative coordinated in part by the environmental organizations Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, ecoAmerica and Second Nature, outlines a timeline by which colleges will gradually eliminate greenhouse gases on campus.
Four members of Students for Environmental Action presented Reinharz with the signatures of more than 500 undergraduate students in support of the Commitment.
"We want to get going with [the Commitment] now to ensure that we follow the framework and do things ahead of the timeline," SEA co-President Jamie Pottern '09 said.
Reinharz didn't respond to e-mail requests for comment.
Four-hundred universities have signed the pledge already, including the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Oberlin College and the University of Pennsylvania, according to the ACUP's Web site.
"The best part of the Climate Commitment is that it signals to our community at Brandeis and the outside world that Brandeis cares about the environment," Prof Laura Goldin (EVTL) said.
The Commitment calls for the University to create a plan for instituting carbon neutrality, defined on the American College and University Presidents' Web site as "minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible, and using carbon offsets or other measures to mitigate the remaining emissions," within two months.
Pottern said Brandeis currently produces greenhouse gases from its central steam plant and from the local power grid from which the campus gets its electricity.
Within the next two years, Reinharz pledged to create a University plan for "becoming climate neutral" and develop strategies for tracking the University's progress. Within one year, he committed to producing an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions on campus.
The Commitment, a national initiative coordinated in part by the environmental organizations Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, ecoAmerica and Second Nature, outlines a timeline by which colleges will gradually eliminate greenhouse gases on campus.
Four members of Students for Environmental Action presented Reinharz with the signatures of more than 500 undergraduate students in support of the Commitment.
"We want to get going with [the Commitment] now to ensure that we follow the framework and do things ahead of the timeline," SEA co-President Jamie Pottern '09 said.
Reinharz didn't respond to e-mail requests for comment.
Four-hundred universities have signed the pledge already, including the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Oberlin College and the University of Pennsylvania, according to the ACUP's Web site.
"The best part of the Climate Commitment is that it signals to our community at Brandeis and the outside world that Brandeis cares about the environment," Prof Laura Goldin (EVTL) said.
The Commitment calls for the University to create a plan for instituting carbon neutrality, defined on the American College and University Presidents' Web site as "minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible, and using carbon offsets or other measures to mitigate the remaining emissions," within two months.
Pottern said Brandeis currently produces greenhouse gases from its central steam plant and from the local power grid from which the campus gets its electricity.
Within the next two years, Reinharz pledged to create a University plan for "becoming climate neutral" and develop strategies for tracking the University's progress. Within one year, he committed to producing an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions on campus.
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David Sternlight, Ph.D.
posted 9/25/07 @ 6:44 PM EST
Let me say it as clearly as I know how. Man-induced global warming is a scam, perpetrated by the same crowd that brought us the now discredited "Limits to Growth" scam, the "World Oil Shortage" of the '60s, the "running out of raw materials" movement, and all the other neo-Malthusian scams of the past 100-odd years. (Continued…)
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