The Ithaca Journal in New York ran an article last week titled “Local colleges take measures to reduce carbon footprints” written by Dan Roth, Marian Brown and In Shik Lee.  The piece provides an overview of how three institutions are working together to reduce their climate impact and fulfill the ACUPCC through their engagement with the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative(TCCPI).  They write:

The “Big Three” — the Tompkins County higher educational institutions — have each adopted the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from campus operations. Cornell University and Ithaca College have each pledged to meet a goal of 100 percent emissions reductions by 2050 and are currently implementing their Climate Action Plans. Tompkins Cortland Community College has submitted the first draft of its Climate Action Plan.

Cornell University reports that, over this past winter, new programmable digital heating and cooling controls were installed in the Cornell Campus Store. They are projected to cut energy costs by as much as $75,000 each year, about 49 percent of the store’s energy bill. The upgrade is just one of dozens stemming from Cornell’s increased investment in an Energy Conservation Initiative that aims to reduce energy use by 20 percent by 2015…

Read the Full Article.

An excellent overview of college and university sustainability efforts, The 2010 Campus Sustainability Review offers a comprehensive look at the achievements of campus sustainability by taking the varied, complex, and broad-reaching developments on campuses over the past year, and translating individual successes into a meaningful snapshot of current trends and major milestones for higher education.

By January 15, 2012 nearly 400 ACUPCC signatories will submit a progress report on their Climate Action Plan (CAP). The contents of the Progress Report form are now available for review.

by Steve Muzzy, Senior Associate, Second Nature

(This post is part of a weekly series by the Second Nature team about why we do what we do.)

[The following post documents my personal journey with higher education. The experiences and views expressed are solely my own.]

When I graduated from high school my classmates dispersed in one of three directions; entered the work force, joined the military, or enrolled in college. I was indifferent about my future after high school. Most of my decisions at this point were based on what I didn’t want to do, or on what others told me to do.

My thought process went something like this:

Should I enter the work force? I grew up in rural Massachusetts and had been chopping and stacking wood since I was 5 years old. My dad was a self-employed, heavy equipment operator so I was well skilled with a shovel and in jumping in ditches. I’d been washing dishes and doing other odd jobs since I received my drivers license at 16. I knew what the work force looked like for me and it was not what I wanted.

What about the military? I had uncles and neighbors that served or were serving and the prospect of combat did not resonate with me. This option was quickly ruled out.

Enroll in college? The only person in my family to graduate from college was a cousin who I had little contact with. To my knowledge neither my family’s friends, nor neighbors, had any experience with college. My perspective of college was informed by what I heard on the radio, or saw on television – I believed higher education was ‘progressive’ and provided space to explore vast ideas and unlimited experiences. I also believed that college prepared you for ‘professional’ employment.