University of Puget Sound President signs climate commitment pact
April 26, 2007

Tacoma, Wash. – University of Puget Sound is pleased to announce that President Ronald R. Thomas has signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) as a founding member of the group’s Leadership Circle.

Over the next two years, Puget Sound will develop a plan to become “climate neutral” through a combination of conservation, energy offsets, and use of local renewable energy sources. Currently, more than 88 percent of Puget Sound’s energy needs are met by clean energy sources, such as hydroelectric power.

Explaining the importance of the commitment and Puget Sound’s involvement, Thomas said, “This document echoes a mission-driven pledge that the university has already made—to be civically engaged, environmentally responsible, and globally focused.”

The ACUPCC addresses global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to stabilize the earth’s climate. It provides a framework and support for America’s colleges and universities to become climate neutral, recognizing the unique responsibility that institutions of higher education have as role models for their communities and in training the people who will develop the social, economic and technological solutions to reverse global warming.

With environmental responsibility a significant part of the university’s overarching mission, Puget Sound has already embraced a number of initiatives, including the signing of the Talloires Declaration in 2005. The Talloires Declaration is an action plan for incorporating sustainability and environmental literacy in teaching, research, operations, and outreach at colleges and universities. At the time of the signing, Thomas said, “This brings attention to the University of Puget Sound’s history of respect for the environment and our intentions to continue to make it a priority.”

Other campus energy-reducing policies and programs include:

• building the new science laboratory building Harned Hall to LEED Silver standards for green building, including using sustainable materials and thermal mass and ventilation strategies in place of air conditioning;
• conducting student and faculty research into the health of the Puget Sound, as well as the long- term effect of lumber mills built along Tacoma’s Ruston Way, through the Civic Scholarship Initiative;
• incorporating sustainability-oriented curriculum into all disciplines;
• providing reusable mugs to every member of the campus community along with all incoming freshmen to help reduce the amount of waste the campus community produces, and offering discounts to customers who use their own mugs at campus dining facilities;
• encouraging members of the campus community to plan zero-waste events such as Log Jam!, an annual picnic for freshmen during which approximately 1700 people are served a meal that typically generates just one bag of waste; and
• offering grants for sustainability-oriented projects across the campus community.  

College and university presidents and chancellors who join the commitment believe that exerting leadership in addressing climate change will stabilize and reduce their institutions’ long-term energy costs, attract committed students and faculty, identify new sources of funding, and increase the support of alumni and local communities. Thomas and other members of the ACUPCC Leadership Circle will guide this effort.

ACUPCC is supported and implemented by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), Second Nature, and ecoAmerica.

More information on the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment is available at www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/index.php.

More information on the university’s sustainability efforts, including a Sustainability Open House and Transportation Fair on May 1, is available at www.ups.edu/sustainability.xml.

CONTACT
mediarelations@ups.edu
253.879.2611
Subscribe to Puget Sound RSS Feeds