The Brown University Community Council yesterday urged the Energy and Environmental Advisory Committee to develop both a statement of goals regarding climate neutrality and a plan to implement those goals.
The motion, passed unanimously by the council, contained an amendment requiring that the statement and the plan be presented before the start of the next fiscal year. It came after a presentation on climate neutrality by student environmental group emPOWER.
"I'm at a loss for words, really, at how this has developed and how much support we've found here," said emPOWER member Zindzi McCormick '09. "It's very exciting news. Now the real excitement is going to come in, to make sure that this becomes a real commitment and not just a statement."
In their presentation, emPOWER organizers Jonathan Magaziner '07, Aden Van Noppen '09 and McCormick discussed the importance of Brown committing to climate neutrality and the ways the University could achieve that goal.
"Brown must balance ... the recommendations of the energy and environmental committee with immediate action," McCormick said in her speech. "Brown must go climate-neutral, and we must go climate-neutral now," she said.
Magaziner outlined emPOWER's suggestions for reducing emissions, including the purchase of renewable energy credits, investment in replanting and protecting forests and making improvements to local public housing to make it more energy-efficient and offset the University's own energy usage.
The purchase of RECs "invests money in new sources of clean energy," while forest restoration adds to (carbon dioxide) absorption and off-campus upgrades represent a way of "thinking globally and acting locally," Magaziner said.
"Brown can invest in projects that reduce carbon emissions elsewhere. We can help other areas reduce their effect," he added. "It would allow us to go climate-neutral immediately."
Van Noppen talked about climate neutrality in general, detailing the efforts of other groups and institutions on the issue. "Ultimately, this has to be something Brown wants," she said.
EmPOWER organizers were adamant that a commitment to climate neutrality should not divert money from other projects that may be recommended by the EEAC.
"New money could be raised for a fund that supports climate neutrality," Magaziner said. "This should not be seen as competing ... but as complementary with their efforts."
The emPOWER presentation received a standing ovation from the audience.
"I feel like we couldn't have come out of this meeting with a better result," Van Noppen said after the meeting. "The EEAC is a committee that really supports this overall. Now that it's clear that the University will be doing this in addition to on-site reductions. I think the committee will be very supportive."
"I think the presenters did an amazing job on showing the council that the support extends beyond student activists, to the student body, to staff, to members of the administration," said emPOWER member Emily McAteer '07.
Another presentation to the BUCC, by Energy Manager Chris Powell, put forth various initiatives on energy and the environment, such as "major system upgrades" to the University's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and improvements to campus lighting. He also proposed diversifying the University's sources of energy, including the possibility of wind or solar plants on Brown's property, such as wind power stations in Bristol and solar panels on the roof of the GeoChemistry Building
"It's the (EEAC's) role to decide which areas are the ones we'll bring forward to the University," Powell said.
Powell said Brown's total greenhouse gas "footprint" is 82,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, which works out to 10.1 metric tons of emissions per student each year. Of those, 46,000 metric tons are from the on-site burning of fossil fuels, and 36,000 metric tons are from the indirect burning of fossil fuels for electricity.
