Environmental Council Meeting
Minutes of February 16, 2005
Attending: Nan Jenks-Jay (Chair), Connie Leach Bisson (Vice Chair), Anne Knowles, Jeff Munroe, Steve Trombulak, Diane Munroe, Brenda Ellis, Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak, Olivia Katz, Sharai Lewis-Gruss, David Wright, Sara Dewey, Clare O'Reilly
Missing: Charlotte Tate, Whitney Creed, Makely Lyon, Louis Paolella, Kelly Blynn, John Reed
1. Annoucements
Northeast Climate Conference will be taking place this weekend at UVM. Over 400 students anticipated. Environmental Affairs is assisting with registration and travel expenses.
Middlebury College Organic Garden is hosting a 3-day symposium that includes a keynote address and dinner, tours of area farms/gardens, and a panel/brunch on Sunday.
International Paper has requested a permit to test burn chipped tires as the fuel source at their Ticonderoga, NY plant. Middlebury (much of Addison County) is potentially down wind of the stack and a group of citizens have been opposing this proposal for many months. Several citizens have asked if there might be college students interested in becoming involved in this issue. If so, contact Connie.
Students are planning a celebration of the Kyoto Protocol Ratification tonight at 8 p.m. at the Library. There will be a slide show, earth shaped cookies and a sampling of Ben & Jerry's new global warming flavor "Fossil Fuel".
2. Review/Approval of Minutes
The Minutes of January 12 and the notes from the Environmental Council meeting with President Liebowitz held on January 17 were approved as submitted.
3. Follow up from meeting with President Liebowitz
President Liebowitz was highly supportive of the environmental grants program asked for a report summary. Nan outlined several components that might be included such:
# of grants and dollars invested in these initiatives,
# of students, faculty and staff involved,
outcomes
interviews with past recipients – impact on their Middlebury experience
Anne Knowles suggested that it would be good to note unanticipated benefits such as network building, proposal writing skills, crossing of institutional boundaries, new voices across campus on behalf of the environment. Nan suggested that the report also suggest how the grant program might be improved, possibly proposing variations to this incentive program. Connie will ask Charlotte to assist her in developing a draft report.
4. Update on campus sustainability initiatives
a. Trustees' Meeting – Nan reported that the Buildings and Grounds (B&G) subcommittee of the Trustees were provided with a biomass analysis informational update at their meeting on campus last week. They endorsed continuing with the next stage of analysis. The Trustees were introduced to the issue last year through the Carbon Reduction Initiative process and signed a resolution to reduce carbon emissions on campus at their May 2004 meeting. The questions that were asked indicated that members were generally familiar with the technology.
Nan shared that Mike Moser had drafted and submitted a USDA biomass grant preliminary proposal that would focus on the biomass fuel and establishing a sustainable standard for Vermont. Clare asked if there were opportunities for students to be involved with this grant. This should be explored if the college is invited to submit a full proposal.
Lands Committee – A small group will plan to meet with Ron to follow up on his interest in having the Trustees' committee and the Env Council Lands subcommittee merge or interact. Nan will send the draft policy to Ron.
b. Wind Turbine Proposal – The College has received word that there is a high probability that it will receive grant funding for a small-scale (residential size) 10kW wind turbine. This project is the outgrowth of a Campus Environmental Grant. Currently, the college is reviewing a draft agreement with the State and the College and the State will split the construction costs 50/50. This turbine will be more of a demonstration project than a main source of electricity. ES classes will use it for research and by being located on the main campus, it will be highly visible to inspire others. The tower will be about 60 feet high and the manufacturer is Bergey.
c. Local Foods Staff/Trustees Breakfast – Brenda shared that she had attended the breakfast, that the food was good and she really liked the map of where the food had come from. She also noted the labeling of the food on the serving line. Nan shared that Connie and Asher Burns-Burg had worked on the educational materials and that the event had been hosted by Staff Council and paid for by the Trustees. Connie shared that about 160 attended and Matthew Biette had commented that his own staff had been "charged" by the event. A Faculty/Staff breakfast (farmers meal) in collaboration with Dining Services may be planned for later in the year.
- Middlebury Climate Coalition – Since January (inspired by Jon Isham's January term class), a group of students have been meeting on a weekly basis. They are particularly interested in seeing more happening on campus about carbon reduction. There are four active subcommittees (Biomass/Wind Turbine, Student Car Fee, Campus Outreach, Statewide/Legislation) as well as lots of small projects. Some students are working on the "Road to Detroit" project with other students around the country. This campaign will lead up to a gathering in Detroit near Labor Day to ask automakers to shift to biofuels.
e. Planning Process – Connie noted the cumulative "List of Five Things" that EC members had submitted. She had met with JS Woodward from the Community Council and had suggested that they might do a similar exercise as it would be interesting to see their ideas of desired environmental resources or initiatives in place by 2012. Steve and Clare noted that their task force has homework to craft a planning framework (defining ultimate and proximate goals) and some of the ideas in the list generated by the EC will be useful.
Anne Knowles asked if paths beyond the physical campus were within discussion. Steve & Clare responded that the Task Force is not thinking of the College as a firm boundary.
5. Campus Environmental Grants
Connie provided an update that some of the funds awarded to the Dishwashing Project had been used to purchase a banner. No funds had yet been drawn on Dining Services' award for updating the Local Foods posters. Clare and Connie also reported that the funds approved for education around discontinuing the Dish Recovery Bin System would not be necessary because the Rugby Team is being paid by Dining Services to monitor the dining halls.
Connie suggested that we might follow up on Franci Farnsworth's suggestion to offer $100 mini-grants with the remainder of the money. Nan suggested that it is a good time to do so and that we should proceed with this. Connie will draft a short application form and advertise the program.
6. Spring Semester meeting dates
The general consensus of those present was that Monday afternoon was the best time to meet. Connie will pursue changing the meeting dates.
Olivia mentioned that she liked the fact that President Liebowitz wanted to meet regularly and wondered if that schedule had been set up. Connie noted that she had not done so because the Wednesday meeting times were inconvenient for at least one staff member and several students. She will now work with Barbara on additional meetings. Nan suggested that if the regular EC meetings were not convenient for Ron, a small group representing the EC could meet with him separately.