Being a friend to the environment is becoming more important with every season change. There are lots of ways to be green as an online student, and saving on gas and paper are just a couple ways to start. If you’re interested in learning about the impact online education is having on climate change, check out the post below from one of our sister blogs.
Post originated from the Sustainability Committee Blog at American Public University System.
by Angie Crone
As this year’s 17th conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa, resulted in yet another stand-off among today’s leading nations, there are plenty of reasons to share in the embitterment and despair shadowing the climate change community. And while the Durban discussions did lead to a few positive outcomes –the Green Climate Fund and a sustained forum for discussing the issue, for example—the conference, unsurprisingly, was another failure of the global community to come to an agreement of how to slow the heating of the planet. The conference did, however, heed a rather constructive lesson: the climate change issue exceeds the realms of the climate community. This isn’t necessarily a newsflash, of course, but it brings into focus a new question: who is equipped to handle the climate crisis?
In a recent New York Times article, Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman for California’s Air Resources Board, poignantly stated, “Progress is going to come from the bottom up, not the top down.” The proactivity of regional climate commitments such as the Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord and the Northeast’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative which incorporate public stakeholders, private business, non-governmental organizations, and individuals have shown that bottom-up strategies are well-positioned to make meaningful contributions in combatting climate change. Additionally, industry specific agreements have been instrumental in identifying and mitigating their own contributions to the increasingly unpredictable climate.
Let’s consider the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The ACUPCC has emphasized the importance of higher education taking a new lead by preparing for and responding to impacts and implications of climate change that include unprecedented effects on infrastructure, ecosystems, energy and water supplies, food production, national security, and people’s livelihoods. With the US Census Bureau reporting that there are 4,495 higher education institutions in the United States and with college enrollment having increased 38% between 1999 and 2009, the ACUPCC has a unique opportunity to develop cutting edge solutions and best-practices in the fight against climate change.
The opportunities of the ACUPCC also stem from its immense market (which is partly the beauty of being in the higher education sector). The ACUPCC currently has 674 signatories, representing some 5.8 million students. This means that 5.8 million individuals are being exposed to and are, willingly or unknowingly, participating in climate change fighting strategies in the form of physical projects, collaboration, or simply, attendance. These educated individuals will then (hopefully) take these practices into their workplaces and everyday lives. This is what I call serious bottom-up climate change fighting.
Real significance also lies in the reconciliatory nature of commitments and initiatives like the ACUPCC. These types of agreements are the so called “middle-men and women” between the bottom and the top. So while the annual climate talks are productive in their own right, they’re not the end-all, be-all in climate change. And as we ring in 2012, let’s not take with us the baggage of another unsuccessful international agreement, and instead recognize that those of us in higher education are equipped to make a significant impact in combatting climate change.
