January 9, 2001
Environmental Council Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2001
Old Chapel 206
Chair: Nan Jenks-Jay
In attendance: Nan Jenks-Jay, Kathy Morse, Caitlin Hicks, Amy Seif, Erik Skovsted, Pete Ryan, Story Parker, Jon Isham, Tom Kelly, Charlie Sargent, Ben Wessler
Absent: George McPhail, Mike Snow, Krista Siringo, Oren Frey
1. The meeting was called to order at 4:15 p.m.
2. The minutes from the December 13, 2000 meeting were approved.
3. Agenda for Meeting with President McCardell
A. Environmental Grant Program:
We will discuss the grant projects funded for the year and next year's funding.
B. Council's Interest in Reducing Greenhouse Gases :
This is a good opportunity for the Council to introduce the President to our interest in helping the College to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
C. Clean Cities Initiative:
We will thank the President for his approval of the Clean Cities Plan. Throughout the meeting with the President, we will discuss Middlebury's leadership in campus sustainability.
D. A/C Policy :
The Council would like clarification of the college's needs for several A/C policies.
E. Hiring a Transportation Planner:
The Council would like to hire a transportation consultant to help develop incentives/disincentives programs, and would like this information to be integrated into the Parking Study Committee process.
F. University Leaders for a Sustainable Future :
We seek membership by the college to ULSF, to enable networking opportunities and to get the college recognized by other academic institutions.
4. Membership
Carlos Lopez-Hollis has resigned from the Council due to demands on his time. The Council is now looking for two new student members for the spring.
5. Guest Speaker: Tony Cortese from Second Nature
A. Background :
Tony Cortese is the Founder and President of Second Nature, an organization in Boston which promotes an environmentally sustainable world through higher education. More information on Second Nature can be found at http://www.2nature.org. Tony is widely respected for his work with academic institutions, and he was the first Dean of the environment program at Tufts University.
B. Presentation:
According to Tony, Middlebury is doing some of the most outstanding work among academic institutions in the area of campus sustainability. The college's administration, facilities people, faculty, and students are all working together. The relationship with the local community is excellent, and the Environmental Studies program is strong. The environmental mission statement, with its focus on mindfulness and stewardship, is very sophisticated. It is important to celebrate what you are doing, we don't do that enough. Why are people interested in campus sustainability? Humans are the most dominate and pervasive force, and we are degrading systems faster than since the age of the dinosaur. We are facing big challenges, including global climate change. We have got to find ways to reduce throughput, the waste that results from the use of materials. Higher education, for the most part, has been a follower rather than a leader. The content of education needs to be interdisciplinary and systems thinking needs to be a part of all learning. We should not think of issues as separate from others. Education should involve active, experiential, and real world problem solving. Colleges need to practice what they preach, which involves such things as socially responsible investing. The Kyoto Protocol on climate change calls for 5-7% reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions over 1970 levels, but we will need a 70% reduction to stop the damage. We need to reduce throughput by a factor of 4 to 10. Science Magazine, the leading scientific journal, just featured an article on using chemicals in college laboratories that do not hurt humans.
C. Discussion:
What are the issues that Middlebury College is struggling with? Energy generation, transportation, and purchasing were mentioned. Good models of campus transportation exist at Cornell and the University of Colorado. Their Transportation Demand Programs cost the colleges a quarter of a million a year, and they involve such things as free rides on buses, discounted parking fees for carpoolers, and reserved parking spots for carpoolers. By not charging people at Middlebury for parking, you are subsidizing parking. User fees are a very good way to change behavior. Students at the University of Colorado actually voted to have a fee imposed on them. The college needs to create incentives for people to carpool and should consider purchasing alternative fueled vehicles. Regarding energy generation, universities have a hard time in keeping up with growth demands. Try to reduce the demand or switch to renewable energy sources. Regarding purchasing, Middlebury College has no policies, and staff are within a certain culture and have no downtime for research. Kevin Lyons at Rutgers broke through beauracracy and is a leader in environmental friendly purchasing. He has developed a computer program to help Rutgers make environmentally friendly choices. Perhaps we should bring Kevin up to Middlebury to give a seminar. Since Midd is a small college, it may involve getting several communities together to do joint purchasing for economic leveraging. Have we considered a student campaign to get people to turn off their computers or similar energy conservation programs? Environmental sustainability needs to be woven into all disciplines, make the invisible visible. Several schools are developing indicators of what a sustainable campus might look like. Businesses are using the ISO1400.1 management system that enable them to ask certain things of their suppliers.
6. Sub-Committees Meetings
The Climate Change sub-committee and Environmental Peak sub-committee met.
7. The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 pm.
Minutes respectively submitted by Amy Seif on January 11, 2001.