{"id":1205,"date":"2019-07-17T18:18:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/climate\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:18:05","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:05","slug":"climate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/climate\/","title":{"rendered":"WestConn president signs climate agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content\">&#013;<\/p>\n<div id=\"sharingTools\"><!-- #include virtual=\"\/include\/sharingtools.inc\" --><\/div>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<div id=\"breadcrumb\"><!-- #include virtual=\"\/include\/breadcrumb.inc\" --><\/div>\n<p>&#013;<br \/>\n    &#013;<\/p>\n<p><strong>DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 James W. Schmotter, president of Western Connecticut State  University, has joined more than 280 leaders of higher education who signed the  American College &amp; University Presidents Climate Commitment, an agreement  to work toward controlling global warming.<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cManaging  the effects of human economic activity on our planet\u2019s climate will be one of  the greatest challenges our students will face during their lives and careers  in the 21st century,\u201d Schmotter said. \u201cIt is only appropriate that  universities like WestConn demonstrate a proactive engagement with this issue.  And do it today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>Presidents and chancellors who sign the document commit  their institutions to:<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Develop       a plan within two years to attain climate neutrality as soon as practical.       The plan would include an inventory of emissions, target dates, specific       actions and tracking mechanisms.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<li>Complete       two or more specific actions from a list of steps to reduce greenhouse       gases.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<li>Make       the plans, greenhouse gas inventory and periodic progress reports publicly       available.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;\n<\/ul>\n<p>WestConn, like other universities, produces greenhouse gases  when it heats its buildings, transports students and runs other vehicles, or consumes  electricity. Climate neutrality \u2014 the goal of the agreement \u2014 is achieved by  conservation, use of renewable energy and carbon offset purchases, which can be  bought from projects like wind farms to fund the production of clean energy.<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>The climate commitment, available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org\/\">http:\/\/www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org\/<\/a>,  states in part: \u201cWe believe colleges and universities must exercise leadership  in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways to minimize global  warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and educated graduates to  achieve climate neutrality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>By signing the agreement, Schmotter committed WestConn to  achieve at least two steps from the following list:<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Establish       a policy that all new campus construction will be built to at least the equivalent       of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver standard of       the U.S. Green Building Council.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<li>Adopt       an energy-efficient appliance-purchasing policy requiring purchase of       Energy Star certified products.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<li>Establish       a policy of offsetting all greenhouse gas emissions generated by air       travel paid for by the institution.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<li>Encourage       use of and provide access to public transportation for all faculty, staff,       students and visitors to the institution.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<li>Within       one year of signing the document, begin purchasing or producing at least       15 percent of WestConn\u2019s electricity from renewable sources.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<li>Establish       a policy or a committee that supports climate and sustainability       shareholder proposals at companies where the institution\u2019s endowment is       invested.<\/li>\n<p>&#013;\n<\/ul>\n<p>The last three buildings constructed at WestConn were built  to LEED standards: Centennial Hall, a residence hall on the Westside campus; the  Science Building on the Midtown campus; and the Westside Campus Center.<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>The university also has initiated a program called  \u201cWestConnserve\u201d to encourage energy savings by every member of the campus  community.<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>The group that produced and promotes the Presidents Climate  Commitment is a collaboration of Advancement of Sustainability in Higher  Education, an association of colleges and universities working toward sustainability  in higher education in the U.S. and Canada (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aashe.org\/\">http:\/\/www.aashe.org\/<\/a>);  ecoAmerica, a marketing and research organization that specializes in  environmental issues (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecoamerica.net\/\">http:\/\/www.ecoamerica.net\/<\/a>);  and Second Nature, an environmental advocacy group (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.secondnature.org\/\">http:\/\/www.secondnature.org\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m  delighted that our efforts toward sustainability and environmental  responsibility will be complemented and further encouraged by participation in  this broader initiative,\u201d Schmotter said. \u201cIt\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<p>For more information, call the Office of University  Relations at (203) 837-8486.<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<\/p>\n<div id=\"facebookShare\"><!-- #include virtual=\"\/include\/facebookshare.inc\" --><\/div>\n<p>&#013;\n        <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#013; &#013; &#013; &#013; DANBURY, CONN. \u2014 James W. Schmotter, president of Western Connecticut State University, has joined more than 280 leaders of higher education who signed the American College &amp; University Presidents Climate Commitment, an agreement to work toward &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1205","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}