Dennison starts Earth Week with climate pledge

The University of Montana’s Earth Week kicked off Monday evening with President George Dennison announcing UM’s commitment to move toward a reducing green house gas emissions on campus.

Dennison signed, as a charter member, the President’s Climate Commitment. It is a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering college and university commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education. It would equip society with the means to restabilize the earth’s climate.

UM joined 175 other higher education establishments in signing the commitment, which states that UM is “deeply concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of global warming and its potential for large-scale, adverse health, social, economic and ecological effects.”

The commitment also states the global warming is largely caused by humans and that campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing their campus wide carbon emissions and teaching students sustainability will help reduce the impact of humans on global warming.

Specific actions aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions, such as purchasing at least 15 percent of UM’s electricity consumption from renewable sources and purchasing energy efficient appliances, are laid out in the commitment.

President Dennison appointed the Sustainable Campus Committee to guide and document UM’s progress toward meeting the goals laid out by the commitment.
Phil Condon, environmental studies professor and chairman of SCC, said this is a large task, but one that needs to be done.

“It’s a major step,” Condon said. “(The climate commitment) has very strict framework with specific timelines when we must publish reports on our progress towards sustainability. It’s going to be challenging.”

Condon said the biggest challenge will be working with Facilities Services on making heating and electricity on campus more efficient. He said that the process won’t happen overnight.

“Realistically this could be a 20-year project,” he said. “We’re taking the first step and it’s a really great thing.”

Dennison said that everyone on campus must do their part in order to succeed in this endeavor.

“We certainly will not succeed without collaboration, cooperation across campus,” he said. “I urge all on campus to become involved. Together we can make a difference.”