2008 Woodie Awards
Where UConn Goes From Here
Timothy Bleasdale
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: News
Tuesday afternoon, the University of Connecticut took an important step in its growing reputation as an environmental leader by acknowledging that humans have caused global warming and pledging to take action.
The document that UConn president Michael Hogan signed, the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), is both a declaration that global warming is caused by humans and an agreement to take immediate steps within the university to combat the problem. According to the ACUPCC Web site, this brings UConn into the ranks of roughly 537 other colleges and universities across the country that have joined the movement to become role models of environmental leadership.
"We [the undersigned] recognize the scientific consensus that global warming is real and is largely being caused by humans," the ACUPCC reads. "We further recognize the need to reduce the global emission of greenhouse gases by 80 percent by mid-century at the latest, in order to avert the worst impacts of global warming and to reestablish the more stable climatic conditions that have made human progress over the last 10,000 years possible."
In addition to officially giving the university a stance on climate change, Hogan's signature also recognizes a social mandate to serve students by preparing them "with the knowledge and skills to address the critical, systemic challenges faced by the world in this new century."
"Campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical and civil society," the document reads.
But what the university is actually committing to is far more vague. The ACUPCC does not set out a specific plan for schools to follow. Rather, it sets bench marks for the university to develop a plan to reach climate neutrality in a timely manner.
According to the agreement, UConn must create a group or structure to guide and implement its climate neutrality plan within two months and have a working plan within two years. At the one-year mark, UConn is required to have fully assessed its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which will allow the university to effectively measure any changes in those emissions.
The document that UConn president Michael Hogan signed, the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), is both a declaration that global warming is caused by humans and an agreement to take immediate steps within the university to combat the problem. According to the ACUPCC Web site, this brings UConn into the ranks of roughly 537 other colleges and universities across the country that have joined the movement to become role models of environmental leadership.
"We [the undersigned] recognize the scientific consensus that global warming is real and is largely being caused by humans," the ACUPCC reads. "We further recognize the need to reduce the global emission of greenhouse gases by 80 percent by mid-century at the latest, in order to avert the worst impacts of global warming and to reestablish the more stable climatic conditions that have made human progress over the last 10,000 years possible."
In addition to officially giving the university a stance on climate change, Hogan's signature also recognizes a social mandate to serve students by preparing them "with the knowledge and skills to address the critical, systemic challenges faced by the world in this new century."
"Campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical and civil society," the document reads.
But what the university is actually committing to is far more vague. The ACUPCC does not set out a specific plan for schools to follow. Rather, it sets bench marks for the university to develop a plan to reach climate neutrality in a timely manner.
According to the agreement, UConn must create a group or structure to guide and implement its climate neutrality plan within two months and have a working plan within two years. At the one-year mark, UConn is required to have fully assessed its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which will allow the university to effectively measure any changes in those emissions.
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