Important, Yes! But No One Should Have Said Achieving Climate Neutrality Was Going to be Easy
*T**his is the first in a weekly series of Guest Blogs from Walter Simpson,**CEM, LEED AP, retired 26 year University at Buffalo Energy Officer and director of UB Green. Walter will be posting blogs weekly providing guidance on preparing a comprehensive Climate Action Plan to assist signatories of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. We encourage readers to post comments and questions for Walter.
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Leading climatologists like NASA’s Jim Hansen have warned that we – as a species -- have a very limited amount of time to reverse current greenhouse gas emissions trends and demonstrate a commitment to significant cuts in fossil fuel use or else we will be unable to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Hansen, sometimes called the grandfather of climate change, described himself as a real grandfather who is concerned about his grandchildren and the world they will inherit in a letter he and his wife Anniek recently sent to Barack and Michelle Obama. This past Sunday Hansen was quoted in the UK Observer stating that Obama’s first term is our last chance to avoid climate catastrophe.
So not only are the stakes high but also the time is short. Fortunately, the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment provides a crucially important mechanism for our schools to set an example and provide the motivation and momentum that is so desperately needed at this time. But let’s be clear: climate neutrality is no small undertaking.
On many campuses, as the meaning of climate neutrality sinks in, there undoubtedly is a lot of hand-wringing and head-shaking going on about how to meet this commitment. And this is understandable. Creating educated minds may be your school’s most important product but you may become convinced that your most voluminous product is greenhouse gas emissions after seeing the results of your first greenhouse gas inventory.
The Presidents Climate Commitment addresses our primary addiction – our near total dependence on fossil fuels. The majority of colleges and universities burn natural gas for heating, buy electricity which is generated in large part by burning coal, and are populated by students, faculty, and staff who burn gasoline (oil) to travel to and from campus. These activities – plus virtually every other thing we do on campus -- produces globs of carbon dioxide and to a lesser extent other greenhouse gas emissions, fueling global warming and climate change.
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