In the midst of an economic crisis that has stocks sinking into the red, Bowdoin is continuing its pledge to go green.
In a recent e-mail sent to all members of the Bowdoin community, President Barry Mills stated that the College will continue to strive toward its pledge to become carbon neutral as outlined by the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), a nation-wide pledge signed by Mills in the spring of 2007.
"Are we going to back away from carbon neutral? No. All of the efforts that we've put into place, and continue to put into place, we'll continue to evaluate for their costs and for their efficacy for their ability to make us carbon neutral," said Mills in an interview with the Orient. "I don't see the current economic situation of the College affecting this at that time."
In order to help the school achieve its goal, Mills' Climate Commitment Advisory Committee (CCAC) is hosting a Sustainability Discussion on the College's Web site and sponsoring a Climate Matters contest that runs until March 1. Both the discussion and the contest aim to compile ideas on how best to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at Bowdoin.
"We chose to do a contest and discussion board because the committee wanted the process of coming up with a climate action plan to be an inclusive, whole-community project," said Brooks Winner '10, a member of the CCAC. "It could have just been decided by the administration or the administration and the ES [Environmental studies] Department, but...we wanted to get people involved and spread awareness amongst people in the Bowdoin community."
Environmental Studies Program Director and Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology Phil Camill said the College would target areas that would have a large, immediate affect on sustainability at the College.
"What it means for us is that we need to find which options [for sustainability] are easy and which will have a big impact," said Camill, who is also a member of the CCAC. "Whatever options those are, we need to carry them out immediately."
According to Camill, the CCAC has made it its goal for September to create a timeline for making the College completely carbon neutral. He estimates that such a process might reach its conclusion by 2050. If so, benchmarks will be put in place saying how far along in the process Bowdoin needs to be at 2020, 2030, and 2040.
Along with a number of other events the College will be sponsoring this semester in its "Polar Extremes" series, April 9 and 10 will be featured as the school's first-ever Climate Days. The two-day celebration will aim to bring the communities of Bowdoin and Brunswick into even greater awareness of the sustainability plans the College plans to enact over the next several years.
Climate Days will include a Climate Fair and Symposium on April 9 that will discuss the College's immediate plans for addressing sustainability over the next one to five years, and will also showcase five finalist entries from the Climate Matters contest. Members of the Bowdoin community will choose a "People's Choice" winner from one of the five entries while the CCAC will decide on the best overall idea for reducing the College's GHG emissions. Both winners will be announced on April 10.
Also on April 10, the College will host a Common Hour and panel discussion with environmental justice advocate and economic consultant Majora Carter to discuss Bowdoin's newly-proposed Climate Action plan.
CCAC member Maina Handmaker '11 said she thought Carter was an appropriate choice.
"We thought she would be a very inspiring and personable person to hear from," Handmaker said. "We didn't want the weekend to be teaching the same things that we already know about climate change but what new things we can learn about it."
The school's sustainability discussion and submission forms to the Climate Matters contest, as well as additional information about the "Polar Extremes" series and Climate Days, can all be found on the Bowdoin Web site.