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Credited Source: ufl.edu 1/3/07

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UF News - 1/3/07

UF president helps to lead nationwide effort to curb global warming

University of Florida President Bernie Machen is among a dozen college
and university presidents hoping to persuade other academic leaders
nationwide to sign a pledge to curtail global warming.

Machen has joined the presidents of Arizona State and Ball State
universities in becoming the first to sign the American College & University
Presidents Climate Commitment. They hope 380 other presidents and
chancellors will do the same by June.

"Global warming is one of the great challenges of our time, and UF needs
to do everything it can to help address the problem before it seriously
impacts the lives of future generations," Machen said.

Signing the commitment requires the colleges and universities to develop a
plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate neutrality as
soon as possible. UF has already begun this process, said Dedee
DeLongpr�, director of UF's Office of Sustainability.

UF has completed an inventory of the greenhouse gas emissions
generated by the physical campus; the Presidents Climate Commitment
challenges colleges and universities to track emissions generated by
commuting and air travel as well. The university is working on an action
plan for climate neutrality and already has enacted three of five suggested
tangible actions to reduce emissions while the more comprehensive plan
is developed. These include:

Establishing a policy to require all new campus construction to meet the
requirements of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) Silver standard or equivalent as developed by the U.S. Green
Building Council.

Establishing a purchasing policy for energy-efficient appliances.

Providing and promoting access to public transportation for faculty, staff
and students.

"This commitment is a massive undertaking - it challenges us to rethink
every aspect of campus operations with an eye for increasing efficiency
and reducing carbon emissions." DeLongpr� said. "Thankfully, we're on
our way to integrating this thinking into campus decision-making."

Higher education represents a $317 billion economic engine that employs
millions and spends billions of dollars on fuel, products and services; and
tomorrow's workers - 17 million engineers, lawyers, journalists, etc. - are now
enrolled in the 4,000 institutions of higher learning.

Tony Cortese, president of Second Nature, one of the three nonprofit groups
facilitating the initiative, said the challenge to re-establish stable climatic
conditions within a generation is one of massive proportions.

"Leading society in this effort fits squarely into the educational, research and
public service missions of higher education," Cortese said. "No other
institution in society has the influence, the critical mass and the diversity of
skills needed to successfully reverse global warming."

The idea for the initiative arose spontaneously among several groups involved
in sustainability and related issues. Its sponsors are Second Nature,
ecoAmerica and the Association of Sustainability in Higher Education.

Part of the presidents' commitment requires them to publish periodic
progress reports. "The transparency is a very effective tool in getting
institutions to live up to their commitments - this has been demonstrated in
thousands of corporations and communities," Cortese said.

Organizers of the climate commitment program believe colleges and
universities are uniquely qualified to address climate change. Their
reasoning is based on a couple of facts: