University of Maryland Commits to 'Climate Neutral' Campus President C. Dan Mote Takes a Leadership Role in Global Warming Fight

• Setting up a mechanism (committee, task force, office, etc.) within two months to guide the process.
• Completing an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions within one year.
• Creating and implementing a climate neutral plan (that includes a target date and interim milestones for achieving campus climate neutrality) within two years.
• Taking two of six steps specified in the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while a comprehensive plan is being developed.
• Integrating sustainability into the curriculum and making it part of the educational experience.
• Making the action plan, inventory and periodic progress reports publicly available.

• The Campus Master Plan includes guidelines to preserve the natural environment, reduce the number of cars on campus, reinforce the campus' role as a good neighbor in the larger community, and enhance the campus with open spaces and vistas of green lawns and trees.
• An Environmental Stewardship Committee of faculty, staff, and students was formed in 2003. This committee developed campus Environmental Stewardship Guidelines that were unanimously adopted by the Facilities Council in 2005.
• The University received the "Greening the Campus Through Stewardship Award" from the National Wildlife Federation.
• The Golf Course is a certified Audubon International Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Shuttle UM vehicles run on a mixture of biodiesel fuel manufactured from waste cooking oil.
• Completed in 2003, the University's Combined Heat and Power Plant received the EPA's Energy Star Award.
• A thermal energy storage system cools water at night and stores it for daytime cooling of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Stamp Student Union, and Riggs Alumni Center.
• New carbon dioxide monitors are being installed to ventilate buildings only when necessary, which sharply reduces electricity consumption.
• Recycling rates climbed from 17 percent in 2003 to 35 percent in 2006. In 2006, 99 tons of office paper was recycled, two tons of bottles and cans were recycled after each football game, and over 60 tons of electronics were recycled during a one day electronics recycling campaign.
• All cleaning products used by Residential Facilities are Green Seal Certified. Facilities Management also uses Green Seal products in the academic buildings.
• Dining Services sends all pre- and post-consumer food waste off campus to be composted and has reduced the amount of waste generated by cooking food to-order instead of preparing meals in bulk.
• Four new environmentally focused academic programs were initiated this the past year.

The Presidents Climate Commitment is the first such effort by any major sector of society to set climate neutrality - not just a reduction - as its target. This undertaking by America's colleges and universities is inspired by efforts like the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership and other collective efforts by states and businesses.

"Colleges and universities must lead the effort to reverse global warming for the health and well-being of current and future generations," said Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University and a founding member of the ACUPCC Leadership Circle. "On behalf of all the signatories, I welcome President Mote to the commitment; we are honored and pleased to have him join us."

The American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment is a high-visibility effort to address 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 re-stabilize the earth's climate. Under the guidance and direction of the Leadership Circle of presidents, the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment is being supported and implemented by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), Second Nature, and ecoAmerica.

To learn more about the University of Maryland's sustainability initiatives, go to: http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/index.php?p=sustain_snapshot

To learn more about the Presidents Climate Commitment, go to: www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org