Over the past academic year, some amazing victories have occurred on college campuses. Across the country students are actively changing their campuses, communities, nation and the world for the better. Students from all areas of the U.S. and Canada are electing to increase their student fees to pay for renewable energy, carbon offsets, energy efficiency retrofits, sustainability coordinators and much more! They are taking time out of their busy lives to campaign against new coal plants, storming the offices of their administration to demand carbon neutrality, and building communities that serve as a true example of sustainability.
This is a list of most, but not all, victories from the first year of the Campus Climate Challenge. Within you can find inspiration, project ideas, implementation tips, and campuses can potentially offer guidance in your efforts to do similar projects.
Don't see your campus/groups victory here? Want your time to shine? Post your campus/groups victories to this wiki-site!
Bates College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Climate Neutrality
Students at Bates secured a climate neutrality victory by pressuring their President to sign AASHE’s President’s Climate Commitment. Led by Mike Pickoff and Jack Murphy, students gathered 600 student petition signatures, held numerous outreach and education events, lobbied members of the administration and earned media. Like the group at Northeastern, students will next work to nail down shorter-term, concrete emissions reductions commitments from the college.
Birmingham Southern College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
President’s Climate Commitment
Thanks to the work of Cori Anderson and her group at BSC, the college’s President signed the President's Climate Commitment during the spring semester of 2007. The students had successfully pressured the President to sign onto the Talloires Declaration previously. Having already completed that effort, the President felt it was natural to also sign the ACUPCC.
Blacksburg, VA (Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC))
Mayor Signed Cool Cities and U.S. Mayor’s Protocol for Climate Protection
Through pressure from the community and students at Virginia Tech which culminated in an overflowing town council meeting in November 2006, the Mayor of Blacksburg, VA signed Cool Cities and the U.S. Mayor’s Protocol for Climate Protection.
Carleton College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
President’s Climate Commitment
Carleton College signed the President's Climate Commitment in March 2007. Carleton had already committed itself to carbon-neutrality in the spring of 2006, so the signing of the commitment was a reaffirmation of a pledge the school had already made. Students spent the spring compiling research on a roadmap to neutrality that they presented to the President.
College of the Atlantic (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Carbon Neutral by 2015
This fall, the College of the Atlantic announced a trustee resolution to become carbon neutral by 2015. Several students were involved in that decision and the committee that will be taking it further will be primarily made up of students. Students will also be involved with managing the fund that will be used for investments in carbon pollution offsets.
Colorado University Boulder (Student PIRGS)
President’s Climate Commitment
Students collected 700 signatures and helped organize student leaders to persuade the Chancellor to sign the Presidents’ Climate Commitment.
Cornell University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Led by Katherine McEachern and Carlos Rymer, the students of KyotoNOW! at Cornell University achieved two victories in the spring 2007 semester.
Climate Neutrality
Students secured the climate neutrality victory by pressuring their President to sign the ACUPCC. Tactics that were used to win this portion of the campaign include gathering 4,000 student petition signatures and 50+ professor petition signatures, forming a coalition of 10 student organizations, numerous outreach and education events, lobbying of the administration and media.
Dickinson College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
President’s Climate Commitment
At Dickinson students had been organizing for dramatic emissions reductions through both their student-run organization and a larger multi-stakeholder group that included faculty and administrators as well as student representatives. The students used that group to push for ambitious goals while organizing events, petitioning and working with secondary targets to create the support and pressure for these initiatives. Thanks to their hard work, the president signed the ACUPCC this year.
Elon University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Carbon Neutrality Plan
Christine Irvine and her group at Elon have been pushing for Carbon Neutrality to be included in the Campus Sustainability Plan which has been under development and review in the spring of 2007. It is indeed included in the plan, which was presented to the Board of Directors. There was no actual vote, though the Board seemed relatively supportive of the plan in general.
Elon University (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Carbon Neutrality Commitment
During fall 2006, SURGE staff visited the Elon campus to make a class visit and discuss the Campus Climate Challenge with students in Professors. Toddie Peter’s environmental studies class. Student leader, Christine Irvine, was highly interested in the Challenge and worked with SURGE and the SSC to support a Challenge initiative at Elon with fourteen active members who have organized over twenty outreach events, have had more than fifteen meetings with faculty and administrators on campus, and have collected over 1,200 signed petitions for carbon neutrality. During the spring 2007 semester, the Elon student activists secured a commitment from the Elon Board of Trustees to become carbon neutral within thirty years.
Fort Lewis College (Black Mesa Water Coalition)
The key leaders are David and Matt.
President’s Climate Commitment
Small Axe and Small Steps student organization has persuaded the Fort Lewis College President sign the Presidents Climate Commitment.
Hollins University (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN))
Student leaders - Sarah Whitney, Sara Geres, Dana Leeper, Robin Mizzel, Caroline Walz, Stephanie Pratt, Sarah Black, Morgan Davis, and Liz Schwartz.
Environmental Advisory Board & GHG Reduction Goals
This past year, Hollins University announced the creation of an Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) to provide advice and leadership on environmental planning for the University. The EAB reviews and recommend policies to President Gray that advocate sustainable use of campus resources and preservation of cultural landscapes. Two students Catherine Fitzgerald-Pittman and Melissa Myers are on this committee and were instrumental in helping the University commit to larger more ambitious goals to reduce GHG emissions to zero.
President’s Climate Commitment
Ultimately through board recommendations and grassroots activism, students played a pivotal role in the signing of the President’s Climate Commitment this May. http://www.hollins.edu/newspop/initiative.htm
Johns Hopkins University (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN))
Student Leaders – Blake Hough, Teryn Norris
Climate Neutral by 2015
HEAT’s policy goal was the Responsible Energy Policy 2015, a policy proposal written by HEAT’s Executive Coordinators. REP 2015 states that the operations of the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University will become carbon neutral by the year 2015. Its scope covers on-campus electricity use, energy fuels, and transportation related to campus activities. This climate neutral policy proposal was the main focus of HEAT’s campaign and thus a majority of the semester’s activity was directed towards its adoption. Our campaign was two-pronged, with the first area focused on building support among the student body, the second area focused on the administration. Our campaign to build grassroots student support included the events, student exposure, and petitioning mentioned above.
Macalester College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
The student’s ability to achieve these victories with relative ease is not a fluke, but rather a testament to the excellent and constant organizing that takes place at Macalester. Large-scale and highly visible events like Campus Wars, where Macalester challenged other Minnesota schools to compete with them in reducing their energy use in the month of February, and a strong working relationship with the President made these wins feasible even without signatures and rallies.
President’s Climate Commitment
Macalester's President signed the ACUPCC in February 2007. The policy was signed at the request of the student group, MacCARES, after they helped convince the President in meetings that the benchmarks of the policy were attainable.
Middlebury College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
$7,138 of Carbon Offsets for Snow Bowl
During the fall semester, Middlebury College purchased $7,138 worth of carbon offsets to support an environmentally-friendly Snow Bowl in the 2006-2007 ski season. The idea for a carbon neutral Snow Bowl was first developed in a class led by Professor Jon Isham. Students in that class worked with the ski team and with Native Energy to purchase the offsets.
Carbon Neutrality by 2017
Throughout the year, the Sunday Night Group students (led by Jamie Henn and Sierra Murdoch) pushed their Board of Trustees to commit to carbon neutrality by 2017. They received that commitment during the spring semester of 2007. Tactics used include lobbying of campus administration, researching and providing a report about how carbon neutrality could be achieved, gathering petition signatures, earned media, education and awareness events and coalition building. Next year, students will be involved with the implementation of the carbon neutrality plan.
Northeastern University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
President’s Climate Commitment
Students running the Campus Climate Challenge campaign at Northeastern successfully convinced the University’s President to sign the ACUPCC during the spring semester of 2007. Jennifer Wolfson and Amanda O’Brien led the campaign, using tactics that included gathering 7,000 student petition signatures, forming a coalition of 20 student organizations, numerous outreach and education events, lobbying the administration, earning media attention, and securing the passage of a student government resolution. The next step for the campaign is to get a commitment from Northeastern University for a shorter term greenhouse gas reduction goal that has emissions peaking and declining before 2015 or immediately at 2% a year. In lieu of getting these commitments, students may also advocate for strong policies that could be immediately implemented, such as a 100% wind purchase or a clean energy revolving fund. Students will also be involved with the development of a climate neutrality timeline at Northeastern University.
Northern Arizona University (Black Mesa Water Coalition)
Two of the key student leaders are Kim Smith who was a senator for the Student Council and Mike Madigan a graduate student with NAU who work on the sustainability report for NAU. They both help to organize the Southwest Climate Justice Summit in spring of 2007.
President’s Climate Commitment
Within 2 semesters NAU Campus Climate Challenge was able to get the President of NAU to sign the Presidents Climate Commitment.
Ohio University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Ty Dawson and his SSC group have been working for several years to create a greener campus at OU, and have reached out to hundreds of community members and students to educate them about the solutions to our energy problems.
President’s Climate Commitment
Ohio University’s President, Roderick McDavis, signed the Presidents Climate Commitment, making an announcement the week before Earth Day. They also received significant media coverage, collected hundreds of petition signatures, and held a successful screening of An Inconvenient Truth. Thanks to this great organizing, President McDavis felt the pressure to make OU appear to be a greener institution and signed the ACUPCC.
Oklahoma University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
The lead student at OU is Whitney Pearson.
President’s Climate Commitment
To convince President Boren to sign the ACUPCC, Whitney drafted a letter to President Boren requesting an in-person meeting to discuss campus energy policy and the President's Climate Commitment. Soon after, a meeting between Whitney, 2 other OUr Earth members, and President Boren's assistant was set up. After presenting the Commitment, what other schools had signed on, and the New Energy for Campuses report, Whitney asked if President Boren would sign on to the commitment. Less than a week later, Boren got back to Whitney, writing her a personal email revealing his intent to sign the commitment, which he did publicly in late April. In signing, Boren was also influenced by a resolution that the undergraduate and graduate student senates passed. The bill, calling for campus action to address global warming, was written by Eric Pollard (a member of the Senate and of OUr Earth). Eric got other Senators to co-author the resolution with him and both Senate bodies passed it by overwhelming majorities.
Pennsylvania State University System (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Penn State students, led by Brittany Harris and Jane Dahms, got their University to commit to a comprehensive climate policy that included the following: $10 million annually invested in retrofitting and efficiency work, 20% wind purchase, all new building L.E.E.D. certified, undergraduate energy and global warming awareness and education campaign called IT Matters! Additionally, there will be annual meetings with stakeholders from across the University to address mitigation strategies. Tactics that were used to win the campaign include gathering 5,000 student petition signatures and 45 professor signatures, forming a coalition of 15 student organizations, numerous outreach and education events, lobbying of the administration, earning media attention and direct action. The next step for the campaign is securing a strong post-2012 greenhouse gas reduction target. A 17.5% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 will result from these policy changes, with growth accounted for. Over 80,000 students attend the Pennsylvania State University system which is comprised of 20 separate campuses.
17.5% decrease in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2012
Penn State Abington
Penn State Altoona
Penn State Berks
Penn State Beaver
Penn State Delaware County
Penn State DuBois
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus
Penn State Greater Allegheny
Penn State Harrisburg
Penn State Hazleton
Penn State Lehigh Valley
Penn State Mont Alto
Penn State New Kensington
Penn State Schuylkill
Penn State Shenango
Penn State University Park
Penn State Wilkes-Barre
Penn State Worthington Scranton
Penn State York
Shepherdstown (Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC))
Mayor’s Protocol for Climate Protection
In Shepherdstown, through the combined effort of concerned students and townsfolk alike, the Mayor’s Protocol for Climate Protection was passed into legislation. Although the campaign began on campus asking for the administration to begin buying green energy at an exponential rate, the campaign was strategically shifted towards the naturally more progressive town so as to put pressure on the primary target Shepherd University. The protocol was passed with ease thanks to the insurgent town council radical Frank Salzano’s vision for a greener Shepherdstown and panache for sweet-talking rich people. The protocol is to be implemented by first measuring the town’s various energy expenditures, retrofitting existing structures with energy efficient technologies, buying hybrid police and town vehicles, and replacing the defunct town hall with a brand new, albeit historically accurate, building. With an incoming President at Shepherd and with increasing pressure from town representatives, it is the Shepherd Progressive Action Committee’s hope that by the end of next year the University will meet their demands.
Stetson College (Southern Energy Network)
President’s Climate Commitment
Students in the Student Government Sustainability Committee have succeeded in their goal to have President Lee sign the University President's Climate Commitment. The committee met with administrators and key SG officials to bring the commitment to the administrations attention.
University of Central Florida (Southern Energy Network))
Presidents Climate Commitment
Due in part by constant pressure on the administration from the Progressive Council and Eco Advocates of Central Florida to make UCF a sustainable campus, UCF “President John Hitt has accepted an invitation to join a 'leadership circle' of University Presidents committed to reducing campus emissions of greenhouse gases” by way of the Presidents Climate Commitment. UCF has "adopted the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (L.E.E.D.) standards for buildings that are new or undergo major renovations and started using biodiesel fuel for all diesel-powered University vehicles."
University of Arizona (Black Mesa Water Coalition)
UA had a number of student groups that were all working on sustainable practices surrounding the Uuniversity but no strong climate policy or sustainable programs were in place yet. This was a challenge and was also surprising to BMWC that there were very little sustainability programs on campus. Off-campus there were many projects going on from water harvesting to solar installation to the retrofitting a new student hall building.
President’s Climate Commitment
By the end of the Year students and professors of UA were able to sit down with the 5 other Colleges/Universities throughout the Southwest and sign the Presidents Climate Commitment. The President of UA has not signed yet and students expect him to by June 30, 2007. The two key organizers for this campus are Chealsea Chee and Prabjit Virdee. Chelsea graduated in May of 2007 and will be the new CCC organizer for BMWC. Prabjit is still a student at the UA and he sits on a student organization called ECOalition for UA.
University of Arkansas (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
President’s Climate Commitment
Students for Environmental Sustainability met with school officials and before a month passed, Chancellor John White signed the ACUPCC and made the University of Arkansas the first in the state to commit to climate neutrality.
University of California (Global Exchange)
Key students included: Gabe Elsner, Christina Oatfield, Michael Newton-McLaughlin, Tomasso Boggia, Rachel Shiozaki, Nicholas Linesch, Dorothy Lee, Jeff Dhungana, Candice Carr, Christopher Salam, and Andres Cuervo. Key CCC organizers included: Mary Sweeters, Michael Cox, Laura Dehan, Shadia Wood, and Garo Manjikian. The University of California system pledged to become climate neutral when it passed the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices in March 2007. This landmark policy aims to lower UC GHG emissions to 2000 levels by 2014 and to 1990 levels by 2020. And by December 2008, each campus is required to develop an action plan to meet these targets and a long-term strategy to achieve climate neutrality.
Direct lobbying of Chancellors, and ultimately President Dynes, was key in passing the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices. Throughout the year, students made public comment at Regents’ meetings, organized meetings with their campus Chancellors, and kept the pressure on through organizing actions and petitions. We also developed strategic relationships with UCOP administration “insiders”. These allies informed us about the type of outside pressure that was needed to move the policy forward. We created a CA CCC Steering Committee, which now facilitates the collaboration and coordination of campus groups and Campus Climate Challenge organizations within the state. Our next steps are to ensure implementation. This fall we are focusing on creating a student led “enforcement” committee that will be tasked with developing a campus action plan for the climate neutral policy. The UC system includes more than 209,000 students, more than 170,000 faculty and staff.
Campus Climate Neutrality
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Merced
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Florida (Southern Energy Network)
President’s Climate Commitment & Zero Waste
The University of Florida’s administration has pledged to be a sustainable campus through Zero Waste, Carbon Neutral and green building commitments. President Machin has also signed the Presidents Climate Commitment with strong student support.
University of Maryland, College Park (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)) and (Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiative)
Student Leaders - Amy Dewan, Joanna Calabre, David Rogner and Andrew Nazdin
President's Climate Commitment
Shortly after the end of spring semester, the week of May 21st, President Mote signed the President's Climate Commitment. Throughout their efforts, UMD-CP students had been focusing their messaging on President Mote and the need for UMD to become a leader in climate action while not explicitly mentioning the President's Climate Commitment. In addition, CCAN drafted a Maryland specific PCC sign-on letter with signatures from former Chancellor of University of Maryland, Senator Joseph Tydings, US Congressmen Chris Van Hollen and Albert Wynn in addition to leaders from local environmental groups. The MD specific letter was sent to the Presidents of every College and University in Maryland, including UMD. Next steps will focus on ensuring that President Mote starts implementing his commitments to climate neutrality.
University of North Carolina & Chapel Hill (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Carbon Reduction Initiative & Town Sustainability Efforts
SURGE began working with UNC and the Town of Chapel Hill in 2005 to negotiate a Carbon Reduction Initiative to reduce local GHG emissions 60% by 2050. SURGE staff met with student body president, James Allred, and several other student leaders in fall 2006 through spring 2007 to discuss construction projects at UNC (10 million sq. ft of new development and redevelopment) and energy conservation options for new buildings. In 2006, the town and UNC signed on to the CRed initiative and UNC began work on a climate plan.
Presidents Climate Commitment
Chancellor Moeser of UNC also signed onto the President's Climate Commitment in early 2007, with encouragement from students and staff.
University of Washington-Seattle (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
President’s Climate Commitment
In March 2007, the President of the University of Washington-Seattle signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) after receiving targeted pressure from a coalition of students at the University of Washington. SSC campus organizer and national leader Christina Billingsley helped to form and lead this coalition of on-campus groups alongside WASHPRIRG leader Tina. The coalition included representatives from the UW SSC, WASHPIRG, SEED (the residence hall environmental group), the Young Democrats, Amnesty International, and others. Christina and Tina formed this coalition together to build the strength of the climate movement on their campus early in the spring semester of 2007. To convince the president to sign the ACUPCC, coalition students ran an intensive two-week campaign that included media work and the collection of more than 300 petitions from students on campus. The University President cited the students’ work as the reason he chose to sign the commitment in March, saying that while he had been considering it, their efforts pushed him to act. Their strategy was to pressure the President while also creating a “hero opportunity” for him and it worked!
Washington and Lee University (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN))
Student Leaders - Will Townes, Jessica Huss, and Jordan White
President's Climate Commitment
The Talloires Declaration set the tone for a vision of sustainability on campus and led to further initiatives being taken on within the University. With help from advisor Laurence Eaton, students were also able to influence the administration to sign on to the President's Climate Commitment this spring as the University energy audit is being worked out. SEAL students will be conducting a GHG inventory this summer through an Environmental Economics class ENV 111 and have recently been working with the Environmental Planning Committee to lay down the first steps in implementing this decision. Student leaders Jessica Huss and Jordan White recently lobbied the SGA to allocate their operating budget to purchase REC offsets and successfully received $2000 to go towards the purchase in the fall. The University has committed to match funds that students raise to purchase offsets. During a co-sponsored organic volleyball tournament this past year, students raised additional funds for offsets and plan to fundraise around events next year to put up even more money for a student led climate neutral campus.http://media.www.thetrident.org/media/storage/paper467/news/2007/01/24/News/A.Global.Initiative.On.A.Global.Scale-2678536.shtml
Williams College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
10% Emissions Reduction
Williams College committed to reducing emissions 10% below 1990-91 levels by 2020. Led by Morgan Goodwin, students held outreach, awareness and education events, lobbied the administration and earned media attention. Their next steps are to ensure accountability of current goals and to develop a campaign with stronger short-term and long-term asks.
Winona State University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
President’s Climate Commitment
Winona State's President signed the A.A.S.H.E. President's Climate Commitment in February 2007. Students working on other sustainability projects on campus had enlisted the support of the Faculty Senate, which became a strong proponent of reducing the school's greenhouse gas emissions. The Faculty Senate forwarded the Commitment to the President, asking for her signature. A couple days later, the student group at Winona sent the President a letter with the same request, not knowing the faculty had done the same thing. The President signed the agreement soon after.
Brown University (Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI))
Alumni Social Choice FundIn March 2007, the Brown University board approved the creation of a Social Choice Fund. This provides alumni with a way to make their University donations to a fund designated for environmentally and socially conscious investment. This victory is the success of a long campaign that SEI helped support and that was spearheaded by Courtney Hull ’06.
Middlebury College (Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI))
Joined Shareholder Responsibility Committee One of the most noteworthy victories in Year-1 was at Middlebury College. This past fall, Middlebury joined the growing group of colleges that have formed a shareholder responsibility committee. The committee directly involves students and advises the trustees on endowment matters pertaining to climate change, sustainability, and other vital issues. Student leadership and advocacy was critical to this victory
Syracuse University (Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI))
Shareholder Voting Policy for Endowment InvestmentsIn April 2007, Syracuse University created a new shareholder voting policy. This will enable the university to vote for climate change resolutions and other sustainability matters at the corporations in which the endowment invests. SEI provided guidance and support to Eric Ripley and other Syracuse University student leaders.
Whitman College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Alternative Energy Gift FundIn December 2006, the Campus Climate Challenge group at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA convinced the school to establish and support an alternative energy gift fund that will allow alumni, faculty, parents, and students to purchase renewable energy for their loved ones at Whitman. The college’s Office of Development initiated and sponsored announcements that went out by mail and email to all alumni since 1958, and also to parents, faculty and staff. The fund has been very successful and has already grown to $12,000 just through individual donations. The students primarily involved in this effort were Juliana Williams, the leader of the Campus Climate Challenge group at Whitman, and Brittany Smith who headed up the alternative gift fund project group. Brittany’s strategy for the project was largely an insider strategy of working directly with the Office of Development.
American University (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)) Student Leaders - Claire Roby, Meg Imholt, Charlie Kilby, Rose Davis, Genna Vullo, Anne Morales, Casey Roe, Shilpa Joshi, Dave Smedick, Rachel Voss, Sarah Twomey-Mercurio, Kathryn Carroll
Biodiesel Shuttle BusesAU is in the process of converting their campus shuttle buses to run on biodiesel fuel. For years, the school's Sustainability Director and others in the Facilities department had been trying to get the school to make the switch. Re-fueling issues due to the location of storage tanks were continually cited as barriers to implementation. However, this year students took on the issue on as part of their Bikes and Biodiesel campaign. They drafted a comprehensive transportation policy to be implemented by the university which included a conversion of shuttle buses to biodiesel. The policy distributed to administrators and tweaked to reflect changes the school was already making. Once finalized, the policy was submitted to higher-level administrators and key decision-makers in subsequent meetings. In January, at the beginning of the spring semester, the SGA passed "a resolution on clean transportation alternatives" in support of the Bikes and Biodiesel campaign. Throughout the year EcoSense held a number of events to raise awareness about their campaign and the issues, including a clean car show at their Campus Beautification Day. Next steps for implementation will include physically making the switch to biodiesel and pressuring the administration to adopt the entire transportation proposal.
ASU (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE)) SURGE began working with ASU students in the Fall 2006 semester on a number of campus sustainability projects. ASU is a very active university with several clubs and student/staff led initiatives on sustainable energy.
Biofuel BonanzaThe Appstate Biodiesel Collaborative (biodiesel.appstate.edu) has been successful in obtaining over $100,000 to fund the construction of a one-of-a-kind, closed-loop, net-zero biodiesel processor for furthering research about making biodiesel, and the Affordable Bioshelter Project has secured over $20,000 in funding for research concerning passive solar greenhouses. In late Fall 2006, ASU agreed to install a biodiesel filling station on campus and converted many work trucks and campus vehicles to biodiesel. The fuel used at the filling station is made on campus by students in the Appropriate Technology department. In the spring 2007 semester, ASU students and administrators began construction of their closed-loop biofuels processing station and solar greenhouse system. Student leaders include Adam Milt, Jeremy Ferrell, Quint David and Eric Mathis; the latter two were Spring 2007 SURGE Fellows who will be helping with the 2008 SURGE conference to be held in Boone.
Portland Community College (Global Exchange)
Bio-Diesel in College Shuttle BusesThe Transform Transportation campaign at Portland Community College (PCC) succeeded in passing a 20 percent bio-diesel blend for the college’s shuttle buses, which run between the 4 PCC campuses. This policy should be in place next semester. To get the President to agree to this, students met with campus administration, organized student petitions, and held several educational events. We are still working towards increasing frequency of shuttle services, which, in addition to bio-diesel, is a goal of the campaign.
University of Georgia (Southern Energy Network)
Biodiesel (B20) In Campus BusesAfter years of work with facilities and administrators, UGA students finally got a victory in their campaign to get biodiesel into the campus bus system. All 47 buses now use biodiesel and the system is one of the largest users of biodiesel in the state of Georgia.
Winona State University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Biodiesel for Campus BusWinona State approved a plan to power the campus bus with biodiesel. The students, led by Callie Runestad, began by drafting a detailed proposal, and they were assisted by an engineering student who was writing a thesis on biodiesel and by a professor who is very interested in the subject. They made the feasibility and the positive impact of the project clear. They then informed students about the proposal through tabling, met with facilities management to gain their approval, and asked the faculty senate and student government to support their proposal. The only resistance they met was in the feasibility of its implementation, and when they were able to answer those questions, their proposal was approved with support from facilities, faculty, student government, and the President.
Coming soon
College of the Holy Cross (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Campus Climate Challenge Events
They stayed visible on campus all year by holding events like Step It Up, participating in the Week of Action, screening films like An Inconvenient Truth, and selling t-shirts to support their group. They also held numerous meetings with their administration and gained significant media coverage in the on-campus paper. In the coming school year, Eco-Action looks forward to expanding the CFL exchange, participating in Focus the Nation, and pursuing a renewable energy purchase at their college.
Creighton University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Patrick Sechser, Anastasia Yanchilina and their group at Creighton University in Missouri succeeded in implementing small but significant changes at Creighton this year.
Green Events
The students held events that included a film festival, Step It Up rally, banner hanging, speaker events and tabling on campus. They also worked with other clubs like the Gay/Straight Alliance, Medical Students for Social Responsibility, Residence Life, UNO Environmental Club, Social Justice Club and the Atmospheric Science Society. Finally, they formed an Environmental activist club, got many articles in the student newspaper and succeeded in getting the environmental message out to a wider audience.
Northern Arizona University (Black Mesa Water Coalition)
Two of the key student leaders are Kim Smith who was a senator for the student council and Mike Madigan a graduate student with NAU who work on the sustainability report for NAU. They both help to organize the Southwest Climate Justice Summit in spring of 2007.
Screening of the Inconvenient Truth
The students also raised awareness by screening the “An Inconvenient Truth”.
Petition for Emission Reductions
Students got signatures on about 300 petitions in support of emission reduction for NAU and delivered them to the President’s Office on Earth Day 2007.
Reed College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
There were several students involved with both of these successes, but the main SSC contact at Reed is graduating senior Christine Lewis, a long-time SSC leader. Christine helps to run the Green Board, a non-hierarchical group of environmentally concerned Reed students that works on issues like energy efficiency, composting, and general sustainability at Reed. Their strategy is largely an insider one – they have student representatives on the college’s sustainability committee, and have good relations with the administration. The students at Reed College in Portland, OR achieved two Challenge victories during the 2006-2007 school year.
Climate Challenge EventsThey also held a series of events throughout the school year that drew attention to the problem of climate change and the solutions that exist, including a screening of “Who Killed the Electric Car,” events for Earth Day and Step It Up, and “Canyon Day,” a Reed tradition that students used to draw attention to issues of preservation and sustainability in their community.
St. John's College (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN))
Student Leaders – David Bronstein, Malcolm Cecil-Cockwell
Screenings of An Inconvenient Truth
Two screenings of An Inconvenient Truth were held with a total attendance of 130 people. After the screening, the audience of informed of SJC's Campus Climate Challenge group, ways they could get involved in the clean energy campaign and in addition to reducing their own carbon footprint. http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/04_06-49/CAN
University of Arkansas (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Sustainability Awareness and Action Day
Led by Derek Linn, the UA SSC is pushing their University to become the most climate friendly school in the south. At “Wintergreen” the UA SSC sponsored a sustainability awareness and action day. With the support of half a dozen student groups, the event included concerts, discussions and presentations on the effects of global warming.
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Campus Climate Challenge Activities
To convince their administration to take this step, Carrie and the Challenge students held several creative events, including a “Phantom Biker” week (in which a caped and masked superhero distributed information about energy efficiency and sustainable transportation and prizes to students riding bikes on campus), a screening of An Inconvenient Truth, and a petition bearing the slogan “Green Up, Power Down!” The students’ efforts were stymied somewhat by an uncooperative technology manager, who claimed that his department had done testing that proved that leaving computers on standby over night saved more energy than turning them off completely would. Despite this setback, Carrie and the group were still able to convince dorm staff to do the right thing, and will continue their work to make the policy campus-wide.
Warren Wilson (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Warren Wilson has by far been a leader in campus sustainability initiatives in North Carolina.
Campus Climate Challenge Activities
Warren Wilson students have been active participates in the Campus Climate Challenge, attending the October 2006 Climate Summit, and leading the way in campus sustainability efforts for NC. Student leaders working with SURGE and the Challenge include Mandy Moore, Nina Otter, and Liina Laufer.
Whitman College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Campus Climate Challenge Events
At the same time that Brittany and other students were negotiating with the Office of Development, the Challenge students were holding an extraordinary number of events on campus, including hosting several speakers, screening films like “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Being Caribou,” and “Who Killed the Electric Car,” collecting a petition asking the college to go climate-neutral, and holding a “Do It In The Dark” party that drew 300 people (an impressive number anywhere, but especially at a 1400-student college!). They created so much on-campus buzz and momentum that they were able to pass several initiatives in their first semester, including this victory. Now, the Challenge group at Whitman is working to get their College’s President to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).
Duke University (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
“SmartHome” Residence Hall
Student efforts at Duke have led to the commitment by Duke, in partnership with Home Depot, to build the “SmartHome” Residence hall - http://www.smarthome.duke.edu/ -which will be a living and learning lab for campus sustainability.
Fort Lewis College (Black Mesa Water Coalition)
The key leaders are David and Matt.
Building Metering
Small Axe and Small Steps student organization were able to encourage their campus to make commitments to add metering system to a building for energy monitoring, conservation and efficiency use.
Mount Allison University (Sierra Youth Coalition)
Month-Long Residence Reduction Challenge
Eco Action, a student group on campus, is an active member of the Campus Climate Challenge. In March they launched the month-long Residence Reduction Challenge! Rob MacCormack, Director of Facilities Management agreed to change every light bulb in every residence building to a compact florescent bulb in the spirit of the event! They held a day of booths and displays, an educational theatre performance on living in a sustainable way, and a demonstration of the Save Hockey, Fight Climate Change skit (performed with the Acadia Women’s Hockey Team.) Energy use was metered for a full month, and the winning residence hall (the highest reduction in energy use) won an energy-efficient flat-screen TV. The campaign was led by student group EcoAction, which is led by coordinator Natalie Gerum. EcoAction is continuing to focus on raising awareness about energy use in campus residence buildings, and working with the Environment Committee to lobby for a campus-wide energy policy.
Pomona College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Purchase of 10% Renewable Energy
At Pomona College in Claremont, CA a Campus Climate Challenge campaign led by Ada Aroneau convinced the college to purchase 10% of the energy used in dorms from renewable sources in return for a 5% reduction in student energy use. The victory came after a month-long conservation inter-dorm challenge where students competed to reduce their energy use.
Turtle Mountain Community College (Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN))
Reduction of Computer Phantom Loads
After educating the school and community of the student’s efforts to reduce energy consumption, they were able to get the janitors at the school to unplug the computers each night as opposed to leaving them on in sleep mode.
University of Kentucky (Southern Energy Network)
Students at the University of Kentucky ran a successful campaign for student approval of a green energy fee with over 60% of students voting approving a fee increase for renewable energy in the spring of 2006. Students from the GreenThumb group continued to work with the administration over the next school year on the fee proposals, which were slated to go before the Board of Trustees in February, but the administration decided at the last minute to take the fee proposal off the agenda. Students worked with the Southern Energy Network to increase the pressure on key administrators from students, youth, alumni and citizens around the Southeast and the nation to approve the fee. After a flood of calls and emails, administrators decided not to approve the fee.
5-10% Reduction in Energy Usage
As a result of the increased pressure the school also committed to reducing energy usage 5-10%.
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Reduction of Power Usage in Dorm Computer Labs
At the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, staff in three on-campus dorms agreed to turn off the computers in the dorm computer labs when they shut down for the night. The primary students involved in this campaign were Carrie Wisinski, an SSC Building Environmental Campus Communities Fellow in the fall of 2006, and her fellow group-members.
Valdosta State University, Georgia (Southern Energy Network)
Energy Audit
After the student group campaigned for a green fee with events, classroom presentations, news articles, publicity stunts like spelling out "green future" with candlelight on campus, and the presentation of a comprehensive set of policy options, VSU committed to running a campus energy audit as preliminary step and inviting the student group, SAVE, to be a part of determining what entity performs this audit and how they do it.
Austin Peay State University (Southern Energy Network)
Passed Green Energy Fee Referendum
Students Organized to Advance Renewable Energy (SOARE) at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN organized a student body vote in January to approve a $10 per student per semester Renewable Energy Fee that will increase energy efficiency and the use renewable energy for the campus. The referendum was approved by an overwhelming 83% majority. The fee increase must be approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents in June 2007. SOARE has used this victory to leverage even more support for climate action: because of education and advocacy from the students at APSU, the mayor of Clarksville is now entertaining the prospect of joining the Cool Cities pledge. He will host a weekend working group to investigate the advantages and costs of Cool Cities in June.
College of the Holy Cross (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
CFL ExchangeMeghan Tighe and her Eco-Action group at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts convinced their physical plant to sponsor a CFL exchange for their campus.
Holy Cross (Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC))
Light Bulb Exchange
Through meetings with administrators and physical plant staff, the Eco Action group at Holy Cross coordinated a light bulb exchange program this spring. This exchange encouraged students to replace incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFL). This program will be a pilot for the larger bulb exchange initiative starting in the fall.
Creighton University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Patrick Sechser, Anastasia Yanchilina and their group at Creighton University in Missouri succeeded in implementing small but significant changes at Creighton this year.
Dorm Retrofits Thanks to their work, Creighton is putting in new oxygenated shower-heads in their dorms to reduce water loss, and has installed compact fluorescent bulbs to cut down on energy costs.
Duke University (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
“SmartHome” Residence HallStudent efforts at Duke have led to the commitment by Duke, in partnership with Home Depot, to build the “SmartHome” Residence hall - http://www.smarthome.duke.edu/ - which will be a living and learning lab for campus sustainability.
Fort Lewis College (Black Mesa Water Coalition)
The key leaders are David and Matt. Building Metering Small Axe and Small Steps student organization encouraged their campus to make a commitment to add a metering system to a building for energy monitoring, conservation and energy efficiency use.
Massachusetts (Student PIRGS)
Computer Energy Efficiency Policy
Westfield State College implemented a computer sleep policy which turned off all the college computer lab machines at night and enabled sleep mode on them during the day. The school is projected to save over $40,000.00 in electricity costs annually, and prevent 484,085 tons of carbon from being emitted into the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of planting 66 acres of trees or taking 42 cars off the road for a year. Students Chris Gollnick, Paolo Di Girolamo, and Emily Duff led the effort. Realizing that the campus political climate was not very open to ambitious measures, they conducted a series of meetings with facilities staff and administrators to discuss relatively simple and cost effective measures to start with. After they persuaded facilities to crunch the cost savings numbers, the proposal sailed through with almost no effort. The students are now working to figure out the next initiative to push.
Missouri (Student PIRGS)
Campus-Wide Computer Energy Efficiency Policy
Through meetings with Meramec’s student government and the District Student Government Association, MOPIRG students passed a campus wide computer policy to put the computers to sleep after 10 minutes.
Reed College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
There were several students involved with both of these successes, but the main SSC contact at Reed is graduating senior Christine Lewis, a long-time SSC leader. Christine helps to run the Green Board, a non-hierarchical group of environmentally concerned Reed students that works on issues like energy efficiency, composting, and general sustainability at Reed. Their strategy is largely an insider one – they have student representatives on the college’s sustainability committee, and have good relations with the administration. The students at Reed College in Portland, OR achieved two Challenge victories during the 2006-2007 school year.
Convinced School to Purchase 1,000 CFLs
The students worked with the school to purchase 1,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs that will be used in college apartments, language houses, and an on-campus dorm. Student Leaders - Co-presidents: Rachel Clement, Meredith Epstein, Vice President: Mary Clapp, Treasurer: Anna Vaudin, Secretary: Shane Hall
Energy Stat Million Monitor Drive
Talloires Declaration, Energy Star Million Monitor Drive, EPA Green Power Partner On April 19th SMCM President, Maggie O'Brien, publicly committed to the Talloires Declaration, Energy Start Million Monitor Drive, and the EPA Green Power Partnership. By joining the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Energy Star Million Monitor Drive,” St. Mary’s College of Maryland will save energy, money and the environment by putting its computer monitors to “sleep”. Working closely with such federal agencies as the EPA and the Department of Energy, St. Mary’s College of Maryland has enabled the power management features on 327 computer monitors and will add 473 more by July 2007. http://www.smcm.edu/newsevents/release.cfm?id=519 http://www.smcm.edu/newsevents/release.cfm?id=554
University of Guelph (Sierra Youth Coalition)
Lobbied for $10.4 Million Dollar Retrofit for Energy Efficiency
At Guelph University, the Renewable Energy Group under the Guelph Students for Environmental Change volunteer committee successfully lobbied their campus to engage in a $10.4 energy retrofit. The university has agreed to replace all incandescent light bulbs as a starting point and will be assessing computer monitors and other energy saving devices over the upcoming years.
University of Kentucky (Southern Energy Network)
Students at the University of Kentucky ran a successful campaign for student approval of a green energy fee with over 60% of students voting approving a fee increase for renewable energy in the spring of 2006. Students from the GreenThumb group continued to work with the administration on the fee proposals, which were slated to go before the Board of Trustees in February. Unfortunately, the administration decided at the last minute to take the fee proposal off the meeting agenda. Students worked with the Southern Energy Network to increase the pressure on key administrators from students, youth, alumni and citizens around the Southeast and the nation to approve the fee. After a flood of calls and emails, administrators decided not to approve the fee.
5-10% Reduction in Energy UsageAs a result of the increased pressure, the school committed to reducing energy usage by 5-10%.
University of North Carolina & Chapel Hill (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Re-working Town Zoning Ordinances to Incorporate Energy Efficiency
SURGE, student leaders and other nonprofit allies attended Town Council meetings to comment on the University’s energy use (during re-zoning hearings) and began regular meetings with UNC campus architects and facilities management staff, as well as Town Council members. As a result, the University is seeking innovative green design and energy conservation measures to make new development a “model of sustainability” and the Town of Chapel Hill is establishing a new sustainability committee which will begin re-working town zoning ordinances to incorporate energy efficiency requirements.
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga (Southern Energy Network)
Green Fee Referendum
Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment (EDGE) led a successful campaign this semester at the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga, where 847 students voted in support of the Clean Campus Initiative. With 12% of the total student population in support of bringing renewable energy, efficiency, recycling, and other sustainability efforts to the campus the upcoming year should prove to be exciting. The campus is currently researching electric bus routes and sustainable fuels.
Virginia Tech University (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN))
Student Leaders - Netanya Huska, Sara Breakiron, and Katelyn Keefe.
Internal Loan Fund for Efficiency Projects
In the spring of 2005 students began planning a Green Fee campaign to demonstrate student willingness to pay for energy efficiency projects on campus. The fee proposal ($6/student/semester) levied on both undergraduate and graduate students to raise money to reinstate the daily recycling program and to fund more energy efficiency projects. For a year and a half student leaders collected 7,100 signatures. Through these signatures, leaders passed resolutions of support through both the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA). After these resolutions were passed, students began to meet with the head of the budget office to discuss implementing a green fee. As students continued to meet with university official they realized they were strongly against a fee due to logistical barriers and thus changed strategy. Students realized that they needed to push for the same goals (reinstating daily recycling, increased funding towards energy efficiency projects) and use campus media as a powerful tool for getting the administration to pay for it. Students encouraged the budget office to find the money elsewhere, and they followed through. It was through meetings with the budget office and a presentation to the Board of Visitors by student BOV representative, that the goals of the fee were accomplished - the universities is using an internal loan fund to complete more energy efficiency projects funded through the Budget Office. Initially, the University committed to a pilot project in Whittemore Hall, when students demanded that more action needed to be taken. Six other buildings have been listed for retrofits starting next year. Other projects include construction of the first LEED certified building next year. Through the sustainability website, reinstating daily recycling, and giving increased funding to energy efficiency projects, the best thing that the campaign accomplished was to raise awareness within the administration that the environment is an important issue to students and not something they can ignore
Warren Wilson (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Warren Wilson has by far been a leader in campus sustainability initiatives in North Carolina.
Built an EcoDorm
The University built an EcoDorm that will function as a living community for about thirty students while showcasing numerous environmentally conscious features. Rainwater is collected for use in toilets, photovoltaic window awnings provide renewable energy to the building, composting toilets reduce water use, solar hot water panels harvest heat from the sun to heat water, natural day lighting reduces electricity consumption, and a permaculture landscape provides seasonal foods for residents.
Wisconsin (Student PIRGS)
Ground Breaking Energy Efficiency Policy
WISPIRG’s role starts a few years back, with its successful statewide advocacy for renewable energy and efficiency standards (which helped build Doyle’s support for the issue) and for its successful effort to pass a groundbreaking energy efficiency policy at the UW’s Madison campus (which Doyle credited an inspiration for the four-campus initiative).
Worcester State College in Worcester, Massachusetts
National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Fellow Christopher Noonan hosted an Earth Day event where students hung nest boxes and planted trees.
CFL Exchange
He created an interpretive trail on campus that points out various environmentally-friendly practices on campus and held a light bulb exchange where students could get compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) for turning in incandescent bulbs. Chris also set up a speaker series and panel discussions on various sustainable topics and surveyed students to gauge environmental practices on campus.
Austin Peay State University (Southern Energy Network)
Passed Green Energy Fee Referendum
Students Organized to Advance Renewable Energy (SOARE) at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN organized a student body vote in January to approve a $10 per student per semester Renewable Energy fee that will increase energy efficiency and the use renewable energy for the campus. The referendum was approved by an overwhelming 83% majority. The fee must yet be approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents in June 2007. SOARE has used this victory to leverage even more support for climate action: because of education and advocacy from the students at APSU, the mayor of Clarksville is now entertaining the prospect of joining the Cool Cities pledge. He will host a weekend working group to investigate the advantages and costs of Cool Cities in June.
Coastal Carolina University (Southern Energy Network)
Green Fee Campaign
After a failed attempt at getting a renewable energy fee at Coastal Carolina early in the school year because SGA did not believe in a "mandated" fee. Students reworked their proposal and then towards the very end of the semester, students passed a resolution for a voluntary green fee through their SGA with wide support.
Cornell University (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
Led by Katherine McEachern and Carlos Rymer, the students of KyotoNOW! at Cornell University achieved two victories in the spring 2007 semester.
Green Fee
The second victory was the passage of a “green fee.” Students secured this victory by passing a student government referendum and organizing a “get out the vote” effort for the student fee, which was passed by the student body. Students will continue to secure short term policy victories and should remain involved with the development of a climate neutrality plan for Cornell.
Duke University (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Green Fee
SURGE began working with Duke University students in fall 2006 on a number of campus initiatives, including a petition for a $10/semester campus green fee led by the Duke Environmental Alliance. During the spring 2007 semester, student leader Vanessa Barnett-Loro became a SURGE fellow and was able to spend a significant amount of time on campus sustainability efforts through the EA and Students for Sustainable Living (SSL). As a result of their work, the Duke Student government approved the student green fee proposal, which will be voted on by the student body for final approval in the 2007-2008 academic year.
Georgia State University (Southern Energy Network)
Green Fee
The Sustainable Energy Tribe student group presented a green fee resolution based on Valdosta's model to their SGA in a process similar to a straw-poll. The resolution passed through this process unanimously and will go to the official vote in the fall semester.
Hollins University (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN))
Student leaders - Sarah Whitney, Sara Geres, Dana Leeper, Robin Mizzel, Caroline Walz, Stephanie Pratt, Sarah Black, Morgan Davis, and Liz Schwartz.
Green Fee
Students have been very active on environmental and energy issues for a number of years at Hollins University. After attending the Youth Energy Summit in November, students began to organize a green fee campaign on campus. At least 400 people signed their petition to institute the green fee and many more were attracted to the group via energy events and outreach.
Maryland (Student PIRGS)
Clean Energy Fee Referendum
Working with CCAN and the UMD College Park Student Government Association, Maryland PIRG students won a referendum vote by 91% to increase student fees $4 to pay for clean energy on campus, and will increase to $12 in the next 4 years. Students with the Climate Challenge group, led by coordinator Joanna Calabrese and SGA Environmental Affairs Committee chair Sam Snellings, helped lead the effort.
McGill University (Sierra Youth Coalition)
Green Fund
A new fee levy was passed this year at McGill to create a green fund. The new fund will get 1.25$ per student per session and will be used for new projects next year. This will be managed by the student government (SSMU).
St. Mary's College of Southern (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)) Student Leaders - Co-presidents: Rachel Clement, Meredith Epstein, Vice President: Mary Clapp, Treasurer: Anna Vaudin, Secretary: Shane Hall
100% Clean Energy
Next year, SMCM will be purchasing 100% Clean Energy. Students passed the referendum 1005 to 75, to raise tuition fees $25 per year to pay for 100% clean, renewable energy. The referendum was brought in front of the student body as a result of a supporting bill's passage through the SGA. Students gathered 714 petition signatures for the bill, representing over 500 more students than voted in the SGA elections. Students employed a number of novel tactics to raise awareness and generate support for the referendum, including dorm storming, writing messages on every chalkboard on campus, and handing out 1,000 pinwheels, over the summer, clean energy providers will be submitting "bids" for clean energy contracts with the college and subsequent decisions will be made. (NOTE: decisions will be based on criteria beyond lowest cost) Because of funding cycles, student fees will start paying for clean energy in the beginning of the 2008 academic year. In the interim, the SGA will pull from a large budget surplus to provide the funds necessary to get clean energy online by the beginning of the 2007 academic year. http://www.smcm.edu/newsevents/release.cfm?id=548
Berkeley (Student PIRGS)
CALPIRG, the California Student Sustainability Coalition and a host of campus organizations helped convince the University of California to sign the President’s Climate Commitment, which covers all 9 campuses in the UC system. CALPIRG, CSSC and campus groups like the UCSB Environmental Affairs Board ran a quiet persuasion campaign, focused on the most supportive Chancellors in the UC system (such as UCSB’s Henry Yang). This included personally making the case to these Chancellors, as well as generating visibility for the university’s current initiatives.
The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF)
The CalPIRG chapter at UC Berkeley, along with a large coalition of other student groups, helped pass a fee referendum (called TGIF: The Green Initiative Fund) that would assess $5/student/semester to purchase renewable energy credits. The initiative passed with 69% support by the voting student body. CalPIRG's role included providing advice and training to activists on campaigning tactics such as tabling and class raps, about 25 volunteer hours tabling/campaigning, connections with the campus paper to get an op-ed printed, and advice from CalPIRG advocate Emily Rusch on how to prepare for a meeting with an editorial board (TGIF was the only fee referendum to get endorsed by the Daily Cal).
University of Colorado Denver (Student PIRGS)
Renewed and Increased Renewable Energy Fee
The CoPIRG chapter worked with a coalition of other campus organizations to renew the student fee for renewable energy. The fee, created in 2004, was increased to $3/semester and expanded to cover wind purchases, campus energy efficiency programs of campus buildings, increasing current recycling and integrated waste management programs, reducing the campus per capita water use, and increasing the fuel efficiency of campus fleet vehicles.
University of Florida (Southern Energy Network)
Renewable Energy Fee
The University of Florida group Gators for Sustainable Campus passed a student referendum calling for a Renewable Energy Fee. Campaigning for the fee included meetings with campus leaders and SG nominees and club advisers. UF President Machin has pledged support to the student effort which will be up for review by the Board of Trustees this summer.
University of Maryland, College Park (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)) and (Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiative)
Student Leaders - Amy Dewan, Joanna Calabre, David Rogner and Andrew Nazdin
100% Clean Energy Referendum
Students voted on a non-binding referendum to increase tuition fees by $12 to meet all students' energy needs by renewable energy. The increased fee would begin at $4 the first year and increase $2 each additional year until reaching a maximum of $12. The referendum passed with 3,803 votes. To raise awareness UMD students relentlessly tabled and gathered petition signatures just to get the referendum on the ballot. Leading up to the vote, they held an event titled "Climate Climax" that features spoken word artists, an "environmental justice speaker", and Mike Tidwell Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Since the referendum is non-binding, next steps include pressuring the administration to purchase clean energy. http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2007/04/18/News/Students.Pushing.For.Referendum.Support-2849020.shtml
University of Memphis (Southern Energy Network)
Green Power Referendum
The Environmental Action Club (EAC) at the University of Memphis campaigned to pass a referendum to purchase green power and fund on-campus sustainability projects, such as recycling and energy efficiency. Over 1,600 students -- the largest voter turn-out in school history -- approved the referendum with a 69% majority. Beyond the voted support, the EAC and 105 student volunteers also collected over 2,500 signatures specifying that the fee be set at $20/student/semester, which would make the University of Memphis the largest user of green power in the Southeast. The new Green Power fee must be approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents in June 2007.
University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Green Fee Initiatives
SURGE began working with UNC-Charlotte students in fall 2006. Several UNCC students attended the October 2006 Climate Summit, and met with SURGE staff (and other nonprofit allies) in December 2006 to discuss various campus greening initiatives and partnership opportunities. UNCC Earth Club president, John Avery, with SURGE support, worked with the student government on a green fee initiative for campus. In spring 2007, the student government approved the green fee vote, and a final decision will be voted on during fall 2007 by the UNCC student body. In addition to this on-campus work, UNCC students helped lead the fight against the Cliffside coal plant west of Charlotte, and submitted numerous petitions and letters on the subject to local newspapers and elected leaders.
University of North Carolina, Greensboro (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
Student Green Fee Initiative
UNCG, under the leadership of UNCGreen's, Tom Patterson, began a huge campus-wide initiative to support a student green fee during the 2006-2007 academic year. UNCGreen, the campus environmental organization, had several representatives at the October 2006 NC Climate Summit and gathered support and ideas from other NC students through subsequent statewide conference calls. UNCGreen polled students in the fall 2006 semester and began an outreach campaign to promote a student green fee. The campus response was supportive, and the UNCG student government is poised to pass a green fee in the next academic year.
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga (Southern Energy Network)
Green Fee Referendum
Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment (EDGE) led a successful campaign this semester at the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga, where 847 students voted in support of the Clean Campus Initiative. With 12% of the total student population in support of bringing renewable energy, efficiency, recycling, and other sustainability efforts to the campus should prove to be exciting. The campus is currently researching electric bus routes and sustainable fuels.
Duke University (Students United from a Global Social Environment (SURGE))
“SmartHome” Residence Hall
Student efforts at Duke have led to the commitment by Duke, in partnership with Home Depot, to build the “SmartHome” Residence hall - http://www.smarthome.duke.edu/ - which will be a living and learning lab for campus sustainability.
Macalester College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
The student’s ability to achieve these victories with relative ease is not a fluke, but rather a testament to the excellent and constant organizing that takes place at Macalester. Large-scale and highly visible events like Campus Wars, where Macalester challenged other Minnesota schools to compete with them in reducing their energy use in the month of February, and a strong working relationship with the President made these wins feasible even without signatures and rallies.
EPA P3 Grant for Green Buildings
Over the summer of 2006, Macalester students also secured an EPA P3 grant for green buildings and installed a green roof on a campus building.
Commitment to L.E.E.D. Building
The college’s President also committed to building Minnesota's first L.E.E.D. platinum building. Timothy DenHerder-Thomas and Oliver Cano were two key students securing these victories.
Reed College (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
There were several students involved with both of these successes, but the main SSC contact at Reed is graduating senior Christine Lewis, a long-time SSC leader. Christine helps to run the Green Board, a non-hierarchical group of environmentally concerned Reed students that works on issues like energy efficiency, composting, and general sustainability at Reed. Their strategy is largely an insider one – they have student representatives on the college’s sustainability committee, and have good relations with the administration. The students at Reed College in Portland, OR achieved two Challenge victories during the 2006-2007 school year.
Commitment to building Four L.E.E.D. Dorms
They secured a commitment from the administration that the four new dorms being built on campus will be L.E.E.D. certified. Next, the Green Board will work to convince the administration that the L.E.E.D. certification they committed to should be silver level or higher. They will also continue their work around transportation on Reed’s campus and in Portland – the college has been named as a possible hub for the Portland-wide bike rental program that is being established, and the Green Board students want to ensure that this happens.
University of Kentucky (Southern Energy Network)
Students at the University of Kentucky ran a successful campaign for student approval of a green energy fee with over 60% of students voting approving a fee increase for renewable energy in the spring of 2006. Students from the GreenThumb group continued to work with the administration over the next school year on the fee proposals, which were slated to go before the Board of Trustees in February, but the administration decided at the last minute to take the fee proposal off the table for the meeting. Students worked with the Southern Energy Network to increase the pressure on key administrators from students, youth, alumni and citizens around the Southeast and the nation to approve the fee. After a flood of calls and emails, administrators decided not to approve the fee.
L.E.E.D. Certification for New Buildings
The campus is currently pursuing L.E.E.D. certification for new buildings. Students are continuing to work with administration on the approval of a student green energy fee.
University of Virginia (Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN))
Student Leaders - Kathleen Cacciola, Nathan Foley and Elizabeth Kahley
L.E.E.D. Standard Certification
UVA’s Board of Visitors approved a measure to build all new buildings and retrofit existing buildings to comply with the L.E.E.D. standards. Green Grounds, an active environmental organization, is tied very closely with the architecture school and helped catalyze this change with some help from members of Students for Environmental Action. Kathleen Cacciola, a graduate student, who was the Green Grounds President in the fall before stepping down in the spring semester, spoke before the Board of Visitors representing the views of Green Grounds. She emphasized all the opportunities there were available in renewable energy and transportation access and was instrumental in this policy change. The current Presidents of Green Grounds are Nathan Foley and Elizabeth Kahley and they, along with many other GG members, were involved in completing the assessment of sustainability efforts that they used to push for L.E.E.D. http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=1236
Valdosta State University, Georgia (Southern Energy Network)
Green Energy and Green Buildings Bill Moves Forward at Valdosta
The student group Students Against Violating the Environment at Valdosta State University in Georgia has been very active in attempting to adopt a Clean Energy Program on campus. Their renewable energy and green building bill, after facing multiple attempts by the administration to stop it, was passed by a majority vote of the Student Government Association. The bill is currently awaiting approval by the Fees Committee, chaired by students and administration, before it can be passed on to the President of the University for approval.
Washington University in St. Louis (Sierra Student Coalition (SSC))
L.E.E.D. Building Commitment
The university has committed to all new buildings being L.E.E.D. certified, and they are aiming for Platinum certification for one building in particular. The students are currently working on getting a 20% biofuel blend approved for campus, which would not require any changes to the current infrastructure to implement. The next step to pursue is leveraging the University's electricity use to push the local utility to increase its renewable energy production – Wash U is currently the largest consumer of electricity from that utility.