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News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability April 2009 Office of Sustainability Newsletter University of Vermont In This Issue UVM and Global Climate Change The President's Climate Commitment and Climate Action Planning Powershift Follow Up Environmental Forum Update Director's Corner Way to Go! Commuter Challenge Events and Announcement Quick Links Office of Sustainability Website Email us Subscribe to GreenUVM NEWS FLASH! The Office of Sustainability has just moved its office to the fourth floor of Billings (next to the CUPS Office)! Trouble viewing this newsletter? A pdf version is available here. See past newsletters on the Office of Sustainability website under "news." UVM and Global Climate Change In response to the problem of global climate change the University of Vermont has made a commitment to become a carbon neutral institution. That means that our ultimate goal is zero net emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane from operating campus buildings and transportation systems, topics we'll explore in future newsletters. This month we take a look at the second aspect of that commitment: addressing climate change through teaching, research and outreach. As you may be aware, global climate change does not necessarily mean that we will be suntanning in January. What we do know is that even the slightest increase in temperatures results in a chain reaction of weather events such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, and ice storms. Several UVM faculty are doing research to better understand the effects of climate change. Professor Leslie Morrissey (Natural Resources) uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to study the effects of global climate change on water resources and wetlands. Professor Paul Bierman (Geology) has studied the timing and distribution of major storms and floods in New England over the last 10,000 years. UVM faculty are also helping us to understand and address climtae change representing fields as diverse as geography, economics, and plant biology. Please click here to see a list of climate change "experts" at UVM. In addition to faculty research, climate change is addressed through UVM classes for both graduate and undergraduate students. One example is The Vermont Climate Collaborative Practicum, a course for graduate students offered through the Rubenstein School. This class teamed up with the statewide efforts of the Vermont Climate Collaborative, which came out of Governor Douglas's Commission on Climate Change. Stay tuned to the May newsletter to hear about the results of the class' semester-long study of the potential for sustainable biomass energy production in the Vermont. UVM is lucky to boast an engaged student population, and there is plenty of student activism around climate change. More than 200 UVM students took part in Power Shift 2009 and the protest at a coal power plant in Washington, D.C. Closer to home, UVM students have initiated educational efforts like Focus the Nation, created a Clean Energy Fund, and successfully lobbied the UVM Board of Trustees to vote proactively on climate-related shareholder resolutions. UVM also has an vibrant Eco-Reps program in which select undergraduate students work to educate their hall mates about environmental issues. Eco-Reps distribute information, and create, coordinate, and host activities in their residence halls, operating on the philosophy that we can reduce our harmful impact on the enviornment by making simple changes in our lifestyles. At the Office of Sustainability, we help support many of these efforts. Currently, our big project is the UVM Climate Action Plan, which is intended to set the path for the 'how?' and 'when?' of UVM's commitment to carbon neutrality. The office staff is drafting a plan to be presented to the President and Board of Trustees in the Fall of 2009 for approval. Continue reading to learn more about the details of UVM's Climate Action Plan. -Tatiana Abatemarco http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1101916488629/archive/1102507292085.html[2/15/2011 8:39:51 PM] News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability The Presidents' Climate Commitment and Climate Action Planning The University of Vermont is one of several Vermont colleges and universities that have signed The American Colleges and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). This commits the institution to charting the path to carbon neutrality with a Climate Action Plan. But what does that mean? Here's a very brief primer. According to ACUPCC, climate actions plans should address scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, as well as teaching, research and outreach. Scope 1 emissions are from the direct activities of the campus. This includes fuel combustion that happens on campus and university-owned vehicles. Scope 2 emissions come from utility production not at the institution. This includes purchased electricity for campus use. Teaching, research, and outreach include all the activities by the institution to educate the community about climate change and help increase knowledge about how to achieve carbon neutrality. The ACUPCC website has an overview and links to examples of climate action planning. Charter signatories of the Presidents' Climate Commitment are due to submit their climate action plans by September, 2009. Whether an institution has signed the commitment or not, many are now initiating plans to address climate change. Interested in hearing more? For guidance check out The World Wildlife Fund's Guide to Climate Action Planning and the Education Facilities Professional's Practical Guide to Reducing the Campus Carbon Footprint. -Tatiana Abatemarco Powershift Follow-Up After an inspirational weekend in Washington, DC, the power-shifters return to UVM full of energy and ideas for change. With support from all over of campus, including Walt Poleman the greenhouse director, the team of 204 students was able to pull everything together and rally in DC. After a shout out for UVM from Democracy Now for being the largest group in attendance, the conference kicked off on Friday with panels for students to attend based on interest. Saturday consisted of a series of panels, workshops and caucuses preparing for lobby day on Monday. On Sunday the students from Vermont schools gathered together to discuss issues regarding the state and tangible local changes that can be implemented by students. Food equity http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1101916488629/archive/1102507292085.html[2/15/2011 8:39:51 PM] News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability and the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant were among two of the more heated issues. The students banded together to create the Vermont Student Environmental Coalition to focus on broader issues besides coal and energy. The group plans to work with Greenpeace and VPIRG to focus on several key issues. On Monday, after meeting with representatives from Vermont, a separate action timed specifically to coincide with Powershift called the Capital Climate Action took place. The action involved five groups (coordinated by color) to block the gates of the coal plant in DC and prevent people from coming in or out. For two and half hours the groups protested in a beautiful and powerful statement. "It was symbolic to protest at the coal plant that literally powers the offices of our elected representatives," says Jess Serrante, Greenpeace peacekeeperone of the head organizers at UVM. In what was considered a courageous act of "Mass Civil Disobedience" UVM students took over the Istreet gate in a peaceful yet energetic protest. The students were face to face with a line of police officers standing up against the gate. Students engaged in non-violent tactics to demonstrate the seriousness of harmful effects of coal and their commitment to mass social change. Overall Serrante and the group feel that the weekend was a success. While the event did not receive much mainstream media attention, the group did a fantastic job advertising and spreading their message around campus and the Burlington community. "If one person is looking at the world differently, I achieved my goal." Poweshift has almost doubled since the 2007 protests. -Katherine Devine Environmental Forum Update: Climate Action Planning at UVM The February Environmental Forum meeting took a look at climate action planning at UVM. Gioia Thompson, Director of the Office of Sustainability, gave an update from the Office of Sustainability outlining the current thinking for the plan, as well as proposed targets for reducing the campus' greenhouse gas emissions. A look at UVM's green house gas emissions has revealed the 2007 emissions are close to those calculated in 1990. About 70% of the University's emissions are from burning fuels for heating and cooling. About 13% is from using electricity, and 11% from commuting and 1% from using fleet vehicles. The group at the forum discussed proposed targets. One is fairly easy for us: that the campus' sources of electricity be 100% renewable by 2012, in alignment with Burlington Electric Department's goals. Since most of the campus is in Burlington, this is achievable at fairly low cost. The overarching proposed target is becoming 100% carbon neutral for both UVM buildings and transportation services by the year 2020. It was suggested that money saved from energy efficiency expenditures could be put aside into a fund which will go towards cleaner and more renewable energy for the future. An important point of agreement was that we must focus on reducing the amount of energy used before we look toward introducing new energy systems. Other ideas proposed by those in attendance at the meeting included metering student dorms and creating a billing system dependent upon energy expenditures, as well as establishing partnerships with Fletcher Allen Heath Care to include them in energy saving efforts. In addition to presentation and discussion on UVM's Climate Action Plan, there were some additional announcements: Gioia Thompson will be attending a three-day workshop in June with the Rocky Mountain Institute to discuss the barriers and opportunities for achieving climate neutrality. She expects this workshop to contribute to the development of UVM's climate action plan. Bob Herendeen gave an overview of plans for Focus the Nation/Earth Week, which will take place the week of April 20. There will be a panel discussion on Local and National Initiatives on the http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1101916488629/archive/1102507292085.html[2/15/2011 8:39:51 PM] News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability Green Economy featuring Rachel Weston, Kesha Ram, and Mayor Kiss. For a full list of events, click here. -Colleen Schmitt The Next Environmental Forum Meeting is Thursday April 23, 1-4 pm Chittenden Bank Room, Davis Center The theme of the meeting is: "Undergraduate Research" We hope to see you there! Director's Corner Our university's climate action plan needs to include a target date and interim milestones for achieving climate neutrality, a concept that is sure to change over time as carbon markets evolve. How to select dates and milestones? First, what activities are we talking about? Primarily energy use by buildings, with a very small amount for fleet fuel use. For now we'll focus on buildings. So, what's feasible to make our buildings carbon neutral? Clearly it's not feasible in the short term for our campus to switch easily and inexpensively to renewable sources of heating and cooling fuel, which is responsible for most of our emissions. However, it's quite possible that Burlington Electric Deparment will achieve its goal of 100% renewable power sources by 2012. Green Mountain Power provides electricity for university buildings outside Burlington, and it too will likely have an option for UVM to choose renewable sources. If we can't switch sources of energy, we could use market mechanisms to buy carbon offsets. The carbon offsets idea quickly takes us to the second criterion: what's desirable? Reactions from the UVM community in various venues where we've discussed market mechanisms have almost unanimously been that people are uncomfortable with the idea of using tuition dollars to buy carbon offsets. People keep saying they'd prefer to spend money on real changes on our campus. And although it we might like to switch to renewable sources of energy rather than relying on fossil fuels, even renewable sources of energy have negative effects on the environment. It's clearly desirable that we reduce the amount of energy we "need" through conservation and efficiency as we explore ways to switch to renewables. And it's desirable to offset only after we've done our best to reduce emissions. After many conversations with students, faculty, and staff on campus, with colleagues at other institutions, and will community energy experts, here's my suggestion for UVM's goals and milestones: SUGGESTED GOAL: CARBON NEUTRALITY BY 2020. Rationale: Scientists' estimates about the rate of climate change indicate that we need to wean ourselves from fossil fuels as soon as possible. The major constraints at UVM are the limits of current technology and the amount of time and money it takes to undertake major changes in infrastructure. On the other hand, new carbon accounting and markets are changing very rapidly, which bring new incentives and opportunities. A ten-year horizon would give us time to focus intently for the first five years on increasing efficiency while exploring options for the next five years to switch to renewables and learn about market mechanisms. SUGGESTED MILESTONES: -BY 2012, 100% RENEWABLE SOURCES OF ELECTRICITY FOR MAIN CAMPUS. -BY 2025, A 25% REDUCTION BELOW 2009 LEVELS OF HEATING & COOLING ENERGY USE. -BY 2020, a 50% REDUCTION IN TOTAL BUILDING ENERGY USE -BY 2020, 80+% RENEWABLE SOURCES OF ENERGY FOR BUILDINGS, WITH THE REMAINDER OFFSET USING MARKET MECHANISMS. How do this goal and milestones sound to you? We'd like to hear your thoughts--please email us at [email protected] with your reactions and http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1101916488629/archive/1102507292085.html[2/15/2011 8:39:51 PM] News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability suggestions. --Gioia Thompson Way to Go! Commuter Challenge May 4-8, 2009 Registration for the 6th annual Way To Go! Commuter Challenge is now open at www.waytogovt.org with some fantastic prizes! This event encourages everyone in Vermont to explore options for healthy, sustainable and cost-effective transportation during the challenge week and beyond. All UVM employees, faculty, staff and students can register. Let's reduce the single occupant vehicles on the UVM campus by finding a carpool partner; hopping on your bike, scooter or rollerblades; lacing up those walking shoes; or riding the CCTA bus for FREE with your valid UVM ID. For those who already use alternative modes, be sure to register in the challenge and, more importantly, encourage and assist your fellow co-workers and friends with trying an alternate mode at least one day during the challenge. UVM will also compete in the Workplace Commuter Challenge, which is a friendly business competition that awards employers who achieve the highest percentage of employees to walk, bike, carpool or take the bus during the week of May 4-8. In 2006 and 2007, UVM won the 1st place award in the major employer category and in 2008 UVM received an honorable mention with Fletcher Allen Health Care receiving the 1st place award. Check out the Way To Go! website at www.waytogovt.org for further information and promotional materials. UVM employees should also visit the CATMA website at www.catmavt.org for alternative commuter programs, services, incentives and resources. Events and Announcements Have an environmental event you would like to announce in this newsletter? Email Tatiana Abatemarco ([email protected]) Radical Stimulus- Cycling for a Sustainable Future. Thursday April 16th, 3:30-5pm, Waterman Memorial Lounge. This tour-de-force covers 350 people-powered miles through Vermont and New York, arriving for the North Country Sustainable Energy Fair in Canton, NY. Focus the Nation/ Earth Week at UVM. Solutions for global warming for America. Saturday April 18th - Friday April 24th. The mission of the Office of Sustainability is to foster sustainable development and promote environmental responsibility at the University by strategically bridging the academic activities of teaching, research, and outreach with the operations of the University. The newsletter is designed to give readers the monthly pulse of the office. Every issue will include an update on the Environmental Forum, a message from the Director, and updates on other sustainability activities happening at UVM. You can receive this newsletter by subscribing to the GreenUVM listserve. Subscribe to the listserv (GREENUVM) by sending "SUB GREENUVM" to [email protected] or by contacting the Office of Sustainability at [email protected]. http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1101916488629/archive/1102507292085.html[2/15/2011 8:39:51 PM] News from the University of Vermont Office of Sustainability Questions? Comments? Anything else you would like to see in here? Office of Sustainability The University of Vermont 401 Billings Center 48 University Place phone: (802) 656-0906 fax: (802) 656-1075 email: [email protected] Email Marketing by http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1101916488629/archive/1102507292085.html[2/15/2011 8:39:51 PM]