This year, CEAC concentrated all of its work on two areas: the College’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the advancement of sustainable food at the College. At the request of the President, we wrote a report that described Williams’ existing GHG emissions goal and our actions and progress toward the goal to date, and gave recommendations for the Trustees outlining possible new GHG emissions goals the College might adopt. The two goals we presented as possibilities were to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2035 (a midpoint en route to meeting the Massachusetts goal of a reduction in GHG emissions of 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050) or net carbon neutrality by 2035. Our research indicates that both of these goals are feasible, although the second obviously requires a greater commitment of College resources. As part of these recommendations, we described the ways in which the College could achieve these goals and some estimates of what the costs would be. Both goals would require the College to commit to no increase in emissions as a result of construction projects and to increase investment in energy conservation and efficiency. Other strategies that we discussed included committing to use 100 percent renewable electricity and pursuing a carefully chosen carbon offset strategy. We submitted our report to senior staff in mid-March and presented it to the Committee on Priorities and Resources and the Operations and Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees in April.
The sustainable food subcommittee pursued a variety of activities and initiatives to increase the sustainability of the food served on campus. Some notable achievements include Dining Services’ switch to all fair trade bananas at Mission Park, the introduction of the first post-consumer waste tracking system at Mission, and the addition of many local items to menus, most notably the new Lee Snack menus.
Megamenu Social