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Photos courtesy of Bene Ramirez '10
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What is Climate Change?
Climate Neutral Commitment
In February 2007, Bates signed on to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. With this step Bates declared its commitment to becoming a carbon neutral campus. That means we are striving to ultimately zero out our generation of greenhouse gases (measured in Metric Tons Carbon Dioxide Equivalents (MTCDE)) so that the College's operations result in no net gain of emissions into the atmosphere.
Steps in the Process
1. Creation of an institutional structure to guide the development and implantation of the plan.
The Committee on Environmental Responsibility, comprised of faculty, staff, and students, works with other committees and interest groups on campus to integrate sustainability into the College's operations and culture.
2. Completion of a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory.
3. Development of an action plan:
The
Committee on Environmental Responsibility is tasked with developing a Climate Neutral Action Plan which will lay out strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions as far as possible, offset options to counterbalance the emissions which cannot be eliminated entirely, and a timeline for achieving neutrality.
