Chesapeake College Sustainability Roundtable

1
Chesapeake CollegeSustainability Roundtable

• Monday, March 23, 2009
• Presentation by William E. Kirwan
• Chancellor, University System of Maryland

2
Sustainability Ethos

• Every year we are burning fossil fuel carbon that
  took 1 million years to deposit
• rate is rapidly increasing
• Even without considering the impact on the
  Earths climate
• we will soon hit the point of maximum extraction
  - - peak oil
• we will soon be running out of this precious
  resource
• we need alternative sources of energy
• The worlds natural resources are limited
• Human sustainability requires natural resource
  sustainability

3
Environmental Sustainability Initiative

• Reducing the rate of climate change represents a
  great challenge for this and future generations
• The science is clear
• Greenhouse gas emissions increasing faster than
  worst-case scenarios of the Intergovernmental
  Panel on Climate Change
• Changes in climate, rise in sea levels, and the
  melting of the polar ice caps occurring faster
  than scientists forecasted
• Vast majority of scientists and public believe
  action is required
• Higher education, which generates knowledge and
  understanding, must lead, address doubts, and
  take direct action

4
USMs Environmental Sustainability
InitiativeThe Three Pillars

• Programs
• Undergraduate curriculum / general competence
• Graduate programs / innovation and coherence
• Environmental research
• Practices
• Campus-based mitigation efforts
• Green design for new facilities and renovations
• Policies
• States Climate Change Commission
• Chesapeake Bay restoration
• Clearinghouse for policy expertise

5
Programs

• Programmatically we are striving to
• Provide instructional programs and experiences
  for students to prepare them to be good
  environmental stewards
• Provide specialized education for the experts of
  the future
• Enhance research in global science and
  sustainability
• Pleased that Building a Sustainability Curriculum
  is a topic for discussion at this Roundtable
• This curriculum must extend to all students from
  K-12 to graduate schools

6
Programs Examples

• University of Maryland, College Park
• Joint Global Change Research Institute
• Center for Environmental Research
• Nation's first Masters in Sustainable Energy
  Engineering 
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Center for Earth Systems Technology
• Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center
• Degree in Environmental Studies/Environmental
  Science
• Towson University
• Center for Geographic Information Sciences
• Frostburg State University
• Sustainable Energy Research Facility

7
Practices

• Institutions committed to Going Green
• Require new buildings to achieve at least a LEED
  Silver certification.
• The Kendall Center at the Universities at Shady
  Grove is LEED Gold
• The new Law School at University of Baltimore
  will be LEED Gold
• The Presidents of all 13 USM institutions have
  endorsed the American College and University
  Presidents Climate Commitment
• One of the few university systems 100 percent
  aboard
• Most institutions have completed their greenhouse
  gas emission inventories
• Currently developing their Climate Action Plans
• Campuses are also a driving force for Smart
  Growth in Maryland
• Making their communities livable

8
Practices Examples

• USM campuses achieving greater energy efficiency
  and implementing green practices
• Salisbury University
• Partnership with Pepco to implement campus-wide
  energy conservation measures
• UMCP
• Campus shuttles run on a mixture of biodiesel
  fuel manufactured from waste cooking oil
• Buy green" program targets purchasing energy
  efficient and environmentally friendly products
• Frostburg
• Employs alternative energy sources, such as solar
  and wind

9
Policy

• To advance effective policies, USM experts are
  working at local, state, national and
  international levels
• I served on the Maryland Commission on Climate
  Change that submitted its report last year.
• Numerous USM experts contributed to the working
  groups
• UMCES President Don Boesch led the Scientific and
  Technical Working Group that produced the
  Assessment of Impacts of Climate Change in
  Maryland
• USM faculty participating in National Academies
  Americas Climate Choices study and its summit in
  Washington next week
• USM faculty serve on the Intergovernmental Panel
  on Climate Change

10
Policy Examples

• UMCP and Towson economists conducted study that
  paved the way for Maryland to join in the
  Northeastern Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
• implemented a cap-and-trade system to reduce
  emissions from power plants
• UMCES and the Wye Centers College of Agriculture
  and Natural Resources are key participants in
  Governor OMalleys BayStat program
• Monitoring and accelerating efforts to restore
  the Bay

11
Conclusion

• USM uniquely suited to help tackle this issue
• Outstanding research universities
• Committed and involved faculty, staff and
  students
• University of Maryland Center for Environmental
  Science, known for cutting-edge research on
  environmental issues
• Don Boesch, President of UMCES, leading USM
  initiative
• Vice Chancellor for Environmental Sustainability
• USMand partners in higher educationwill play
  pivotal role in advancing sustainability
• Environmentally friendly practices on our
  campuses
• Environmentally focused educational and research
  programs
• Environmental expertise provided to policy makers