The Traveler

Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: News

The office of Facilities Management will be central in the ongoing efforts of obtaining the pledge, he said. Students can participate in the environmental effort by recycling cans, bottles and paper, turning off lights and televisions when not being used and educating themselves and each other on issues of sustainability, Kendig said.

Some steps that might be taken include: constructing new buildings to meet the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Building Initiative; purchasing only energy-efficient appliances; and providing access to public transit for all faculty, staff, students and visitors on campus, according the press release.

"We need to look at how we use energy on this campus - both presently and in the future," Kendig said. "We'll be looking at how we might best renovate and design new buildings that are more energy efficient, how we might harness newer energy alternatives for power, heating and transportation, and other less-obvious considerations that we might discover along the way."

The commitment recognizes the responsibility that institutions of higher education have as role models in their communities. It is also the best place for researchers to develop the solutions needed to reverse global warming, according the Web site www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org. The overall goal is to get 1,000 or more signatories by December 2009, according to the site.

Higher education has a unique role in the environmental problem. Because of its tax-free status, its ability to receive public and private funds and its academic freedom, as well as its education of students, higher educations facilities have a moral and social responsibility to rise to this global challenge, according to the Web site www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org.

No other institution has the influence, critical mass and diversity of skills needed to successfully reverse global warming, according to the site.

"If the university as whole - to include administrators, faculty, staff and students - is mindful of sustainability and the goals we've set in every aspect of how we conduct the business of education, it fosters dialogue for new solutions to energy concerns to be developed and implemented," Kendig said.

The U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement was the document that the presidents' pledge was modeled after. Other universities that have signed the pledge include Cornell, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

The UA recently launched a new Web site, www.sustainability.uark.edu, to catalog its progress on issues of sustainability and to include institutional initiatives, research and other developments.

"The Web site is a classic example of a work in progress, much like our endeavors to be good stewards of the environment," Kendig said. The site will highlight examples of how the UA is working to be a environmental leader. It is designed for people to monitor the progress of the university in its efforts "to preserve a better environment for the future generations of our students, and all Arkansans," Kendig said.

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