Green Innovation Grants<\/a> every year to make them a reality. One of the Green Innovation Grant projects led to student EcoReps successfully making the case to Central Maine Power and Efficiency Maine for about $36,000 in grants to increase the number of electric vehicle chargers on campus. As a result, Bates more than doubled the number of EV charging stations on campus in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen the CER created the college\u2019s first formal Climate Action Plan in 2010, it set a 10-year goal to reduce Bates\u2019 carbon footprint, balancing carbon emissions created by the college by removing an equivalent amount of carbon from the atmosphere. That was achieved by changes in everything from the college\u2019s recycling and composting program to crucial adjustments in the steam plan, moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAt the annual Trashion Show in 2019, designers Yueh Qi Chuah \u201922 of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, and Ahimy Soto-Garcia \u201921 of Trenton, N.J., flank model Sandia Taban \u201922 of Changsu, China. Produced by the student EcoReps, the annual Trashion event features fashion made from campus waste to raise awareness. The new Sustainability Roadmap<\/em> aims to reduce that waste by cutting down packaging on campus, focusing on plastics in particular, by 30 percent. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe nearly 30-page Roadmap<\/em> details how to reach the new goal, including deeper work in campus culture, engaging all academic departments, and tracking and sharing data more broadly to keep everyone \u2014 faculty, staff, and students \u2014 involved in the efforts. Every decision around operations, whether in dining services or energy choices, speaks to the Roadmap\u2019s<\/em> goal of climate positivity. Bates will use water more efficiently, shift to electric vehicles wherever possible and move even further toward renewables. In August 2020, Bates entered into a 5 megawatt solar project, one large enough to represent 75 percent of Bates\u2019 current electricity use.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBates will also aim high in its future building standards. The CER recommends that all new campus buildings meet at minimum, the American Institute of Architects 2030 Challenge standard, which sets a fossil fuel energy reduction goal of 80% below the average building consumption for that category of building. The stretch goal is to adopt the Passive House design standard, which can see reductions of up to 90% in fuel costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSeen here on June 28, 2021, the campus steam plant’s Boiler No. 3 is equipped to burn a waste vegetable oil product called LR-100. All three boilers can burn alternative fuels, which, because they are both sustainably sourced and competitively priced, are a \u201cdream come true,\u201d says Tom Twist, the college\u2019sPam Wichroski, Bates\u2019 director of capital planning and construction and longtime CER member, has worked to make sure every new building (such as the Bonney Science Center) or renovation is in line with the college\u2019s environmental goals. The last plan made a radical difference in how Bates shaped its sustainability efforts. \u201cThe 2010 Climate Action Plan had plenty of value,\u201d Wichroski says. \u201cIt ended up being surprisingly accurate in terms of how we got to carbon neutrality.\u201d The CER’s hope is that the new Sustainability Roadmap<\/em> inspires and leads Bates even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe goal for 2020 was ambitious, but the 2030 goal is even more so, out of necessity. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group composed of scientists worldwide, regularly sounds alarms about the world\u2019s environmental future. In 2021, the IPCC warnings got even more dire. It said the planet was on course for a hotter, more dangerous climate future, with total global warming likely to rise around 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next two decades. Unless there are radical adjustments to human activities, the report said warming could exceed 2 degrees Celsius within the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opened in 2021, design and construction of the Bonney Science Center was informed by earlier environmental building goals. The Sustainability Roadmap<\/em> notes that all renovations and new construction at Bates are built to a high level of efficiency with a focus on energy performance. Bates works with architects who specialize in sustainable design. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThose shifts may not sound monumental \u200b\u200b(in Fahrenheit, that\u2019s 2.7\u00b0F to 3.6\u00b0F) but scientists say even warming at the lower end of that estimate will lead to more extreme weather, including deadly heat waves and droughts, rising seas, and widespread suffering among the world\u2019s most vulnerable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the CER, the imperative to act institutionally was obvious. \u201dBates is already having a net positive impact in a whole host of fields, whether in student life, or research, or our surrounding community,\u201d the Roadmap<\/em> says. \u201cThe Climate Positive goal is to bring our environmental footprint in line with that overall approach. We want to take in more greenhouse gases than we emit and actually be restorative for our climate, our ecosystems, and our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nProfessor of Earth and Climate Sciences Beverly Johnson uses a sediment elevation table to measure the height of a salt marsh at the Bates\u2013Morse Mountain Conservation Area. Salt marshes are highly efficient carbon sinks. The Sustainability Roadmap<\/em> charges Bates with educating a new generation of sustainability leaders by providing a deep understanding of environmental issues and the tools to seek solutions to current challenges. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTheir efforts won praise from President Spencer. \u201cThe CER has done a deeply impressive job of engaging the entire Bates community in the process, leveraging the commitment and creativity of individuals across the college,\u201d Spencer says. \u201cIt is a powerful example of the impact that a motivated and mission-driven set of diverse stakeholders can have, and it offers a compelling model for the college as it works to address other institutional challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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