[SustainableTompkins] Sustainbility in colleges as a no-brainer

[Stephen Nicholson]

Here is an article from Inside Higher Ed, November 14 
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/11/14/marthers
 
A few choice excerpts:
 
"An essential first step is for colleges to determine if they can
function in a more sustainable fashion: that is, meet the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs. Practicing sustainability means making environmentally
friendly, otherwise known as "green," choices related to energy,
construction, renovation, purchasing, and investment. Modeling
sustainability requires more than just an adjustment to college and
university operations, it requires a reconsideration of institutional
missions and pedagogical values."
 
"Green projects are often misunderstood as more costly due to tensions
between short-term and long-term thinking. Opponents of green projects
commonly cite the higher initial costs of implementation. But dismissing
green projects on an initial cost basis is shortsighted, even
antithetical to the in-depth critical thinking so celebrated within
higher education."
 
"Some critics of the sustainability movement assert that the issue will
be rendered moot when fossil fuel prices revert to previous low levels.
The historical pattern, such critics assert, is for fuel prices to
settle back to affordability. For that and other reasons, several
leading institutions, including some full university systems, have yet
to adopt sustainability resolutions. Critics seeking to stall green
initiatives are playing a dangerous game. It is risky to predict fuel
prices based on past history. Several researchers, for example, believe
that the world has reached peak oil production, which means that wider
recognition of a finite supply could lead to stockpiling, hoarding, even
wars - all developments counter to the what-goes-up-must-come-down
argument. China's booming economy will require an amount of fossil fuel
that is hard to predict, because all indications suggest that demand
from its billion-plus citizens will be unprecedented. Only fools dismiss
the sustainability movement as a fad and fail to see its potential to
spawn new industries and spur the United States' global economic
competitiveness."
"There will be enormous consequences if higher education misses the
opportunity to make green initiatives as ubiquitous on campuses as
student unions and sports centers. With the future of the planet at
stake, colleges must be on the side of solutions. If American higher
education does not embrace sustainability, then it is likely that
another country's universities will and thereby gain competitive
advantage. Canadian and European universities were the first out of the
blocks, embracing sustainable building practices before they were
adopted in the U.S. Since then the U.S. has caught up. U.S. colleges and
universities now have the opportunity to take the lead in modeling
sustainable behavior and educating the next generation of engineers,
scientists, and architects. U.S. campuses showplace architectural
wonders that help punctuate a sense of place - just look at the recent
spate of steel-clad, sun-reflecting, nearly-window-less Frank Gehry
buildings. Yet such buildings are monuments to energy inefficiency, the
antithesis of the approach taken by green architects like former
University of Virginia Dean William McDonough, whose designs seek to
eliminate waste, minimize natural resource use, and respect the natural
surroundings. Which message does higher education want to send to its
students and the public?"
 
 
 
Stephen C. Nicholson
Governance Chair, Sustainable Tompkins
Ithaca, NY
607-539-6923
scnfish at clarityconnect.com
www.sustainabletompkins.org <http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/>