Carbon Neutralizing

By the year 2050 it is predicted that the Earth will have lost 60% of it’s glacier volume. By that same year Lewis and Clark has agreed to become carbon neutral. In 2006 our President, Tom Hochstettler signed the Presidents Climate Commitment, saying, “Given our institution’s and sector’s responsibility to future generations, we are compelled to do our part to address the pernicious effects of global warming”. (pernicious means deadly) At the time we were one of only a hundred colleges to sign the declaration, now the list has grown to over 500. By signing we have agreed to make a road map for reaching this goal. In two years the college wanted to have an inventory of all its carbon emissions and a plan for “neutralizing” those emissions. Our two years are now up.
Richard Bettega, the Vice President for facilities, was given the task of coming up with the plan. Richard has always been a force for reason and has shown a true commitment towards make our school a more sustainable place. In his plan he encourages the school not to look towards buying carbon offsets from a second party, as many other colleges are doing, but making institutional changes that reduce and directly offset our carbon emissions. Buying carbon offsets are a tricky business because it is difficult to judge how well they reduce the effects of global warming. There are many instances when the random planting of more trees can have unattended consequences which disrupt the existing ecosystems. There are no regulations for buying carbon offsets so it is very easy for a company to just pocket the money. Lewis and Clark needs to do better than just outsourcing our carbon emissions and it is very exciting that we have someone like Richard who also agrees with this. The hard part is how do we reconcile our annual carbon contribution of 18,000 metric tons.
This summer the college looked into placing a wind farm in Eastern Oregon on land owned by the school. Unfortunately every company contacted turned down the deal because there was not enough wind. Now the school is seeking to install a solar array there. In Oregon where a large percentage of our energy still comes from coal this would be a huge step in reducing Lewis and Clark’s contribution to global greenhouse gases a majority of which comes from electricity usage. One of the major hurtles facing this development is the uncertainty investors are facing regarding government financing for renewable energy projects. However, it is likely that these issues will get settled after the next election. By building this solar array our school would set an example for other institutions to follow and would be taking care of our responsibility to future generations. Let’s hope it happens.