President Patrick Harker announced this Climate Action Plan at a special Earth Day program.
Patrick has also reported that the objective will be met by focusing on four areas: green infrastructure, primarily the University’s 350 buildings that are the source of 77% of campus carbon emissions; green energy, with 10% of UD’s energy use in 2020 coming from such clean sources as solar power; sustainable transportation based on the development of a master plan that will emphasize improvements to bus and other transit systems; and green community action.
“I’ve never seen the community more mobilized,” John Byrne, director of UD’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy said at the event, adding that the commitment to a 20% emissions reduction by 2020 will put UD’s efforts ahead of any other college or university. “This is the most aggressive plan in the United States. You can be proud of your University.”
Byrne has further reported that some of the most recent scientific findings about climate change, including the loss of sea ice, 20% by area and 40% by volume, he noted, and said that the recently rapid rate of melting ice is most alarming.
“We need to take action now,” Byrne said. “We do not have much longer.”
To address climate change, scientists have calculated that each person on Earth should emit not more than 3.3 tons of carbon per year, he said. Currently, the US emits about 21 tons per person, Europe about 16 tons, Japan about 12 and China about 4. “The US is the most carbon-intensive nation in history,” Byrne said. “There’s no doubt who needs to take action.”
Harker said the university’s efforts leading up to the creation of the Climate Action Plan began last spring, when the Path to Prominence strategic plan included a goal of becoming a leader in environmental education, research, technology and policy. “Of course,” he said, “that entailed leading by example-that is, becoming a carbon-neutral, green university.”
In 2008, Harker has signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, promising to pursue carbon neutrality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and publicly report on UD’s environmental efforts and progress toward its goals. Another key step, he said, came when the Class of 2008 voted to use its class gift to fund the first-ever study of the campus’s carbon footprint. The Class of 2009 recently voted to use its class gift to pay for solar panels on campus.
Harker praised the hard work of those who contributed to the carbon inventory project and the new action plan, as well as to the hundreds of UD community members who attended meetings and made suggestions.
“This campus-wide engagement in the plan – generating a sense of community around it — is absolutely essential, because we cannot realize a carbon-neutral future without the commitment and buy-in of everyone at the University,” he said.
“I do think this University is particularly fortunate to have a number of people on campus who are passionately dedicated to this cause, who are environmentally responsible themselves and who demand the same from the University.” Faculty and staff, as well as alumni, will have the opportunity to help support environmental initiatives on campus through the creation of the UD Sustainability Fund, he said.
“The world is facing the first truly global environmental crisis,” said US Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware, calling for immediate action to address climate change. “It is great to see the University of Delaware leading the way.”
Collin O’Mara, the new secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said one of the reasons he left San Jose, California, for Delaware was because of the University and its national reputation in such areas as solar power research. In setting goals for carbon emissions, a global target is an 80% reduction by 2050, he said, “but America is going to have to do more than that” and play a leadership role.
William Early, acting regional administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency has reported that the 39th annual Earth Day is a historic day and praised the University’s action plan. “The University of Delaware has taken a significant step today,” Early said. “Your commitment is a testament that these real-world reductions can take place.”
