2008 Woodie Awards
Macalester to lead nation-wide environmental movement
President Rosenberg to lead the Presidents Climate Commitment, implementing mechanisms to fight global warming on campus
By: Emily Howland
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: News
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This March, three months after President Brian Rosenberg received a letter from the Presidents Climate Commitment, he signed an agreement to become a national leader in environmental sustainability on college campuses.
The Presidents Climate Commitment is a band of colleges and universities across the country that “pledge to take a leadership role on one of the defining challenges of the 21st century: global warming,” according to the letter Rosenberg received in December.
The effort is sponsored by American University and is coordinated by three national environmental organizations: Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), ecoAmerica, and Second Nature.
The letter asked Rosenberg to sign on to the Leadership Circle, a group of about 100 colleges and universities that will dedicate funds to reducing carbon emissions on their respective campuses, as well as inspire other schools to join the commitment.
The schools that sign the commitment will meet in Washington D.C. June 11 and 12, 2007 for a public launch of the effort. By then, organizers expect over 200 schools will have signed and expect 1,000 signatories by 2009.
The AASHE initially contacted MacCARES member Timothy Den Herder-Thomas ’09, who passed the letter on to Rosenberg. Den Herder-Thomas said Rosenberg did not need much persuasion to join the Leadership Circle.
“This allows [Rosenberg] to take a proactive role in working with the coalition. It gives us the opportunity to take initiative in how [the effort] works across the country,” Den Herder-Thomas said.
Before signing the agreement, Rosenberg talked to Facilities Management and other campus departments that would play a role in making the campus more environmentally sustainable.
“I wanted to make sure if we signed something we were in a position to follow through. There was no real resistance, just cautions from people who were worried about budgets,” Rosenberg said.
The Presidents Climate Commitment is a band of colleges and universities across the country that “pledge to take a leadership role on one of the defining challenges of the 21st century: global warming,” according to the letter Rosenberg received in December.
The effort is sponsored by American University and is coordinated by three national environmental organizations: Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), ecoAmerica, and Second Nature.
The letter asked Rosenberg to sign on to the Leadership Circle, a group of about 100 colleges and universities that will dedicate funds to reducing carbon emissions on their respective campuses, as well as inspire other schools to join the commitment.
The schools that sign the commitment will meet in Washington D.C. June 11 and 12, 2007 for a public launch of the effort. By then, organizers expect over 200 schools will have signed and expect 1,000 signatories by 2009.
The AASHE initially contacted MacCARES member Timothy Den Herder-Thomas ’09, who passed the letter on to Rosenberg. Den Herder-Thomas said Rosenberg did not need much persuasion to join the Leadership Circle.
“This allows [Rosenberg] to take a proactive role in working with the coalition. It gives us the opportunity to take initiative in how [the effort] works across the country,” Den Herder-Thomas said.
Before signing the agreement, Rosenberg talked to Facilities Management and other campus departments that would play a role in making the campus more environmentally sustainable.
“I wanted to make sure if we signed something we were in a position to follow through. There was no real resistance, just cautions from people who were worried about budgets,” Rosenberg said.
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