The Problem
Additional Facts and Figures provided by the Pew Center on Climate Change that explain the scientific evidence for human impacts on the climate system can be found here.
The Solution
Mount Wachusett Community College Wins National Global Warming Award
March 30, 2007 (Reston,VA) Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Massachusetts, has been named a winner in the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Chill Out contest. The competition recognizes colleges and universities around the country which are implementing innovative programs to reduce the impacts of global warming, the #1 environmental threat facing the nation. Mount Wachusett was one of eight winning schools chosen from over 100 competition entries received from colleges nationwide.
“Colleges and universities are key places for demonstrating how to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the major culprit of global warming,” says Julian Keniry, Director of Campus and Community Leadership for the National Wildlife Federation. “Mount Wachusett has demonstrated its leadership in promoting renewable energy options both on campus and throughout the surrounding community.”
This prestigious award was given because Mount Wachusett’s staff has aggressively pursued numerous initiatives and projects to decrease the College’s dependence on fossil fuels and to educate its students and community on the benefits associated with utilizing renewable energy options.
The College’s conversion of its all-electrical campus to a heating system run on locally-available bio-fuels has drastically reduced greenhouse gas emissions while having a positive impact on the College’s operating budget. By eliminating electricity as a heat source, the college has reduced electricity use by 45.9 percent and saved two million dollars.
This project, along with related energy conservation measures has resulted in a 24 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the past four years, the equivalent of 7638 tons of carbon dioxide.
Made possible with a million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, the College is coordinating the efforts of eleven state energy offices to encourage the use of bio fuels for large private and public users. Additionally, the College is partnering with GreenFuel Technologies Corporation to build a world-class training and research facility to re-cycle carbon dioxide profitably into biofuels. Furthering their commitment to sustainable energy, the College will soon install a 100kW solar panel.
For these impressive efforts, the National Wildlife Federation will be featuring Mount Wachusett in their Chill Out webcast on April 18, broadcast live from George Washington University in Washington DC, which will include a taped address from Al Gore. The webcast will be part of global warming events scheduled on over 70 college campuses throughout the nation. The College will also receive a $1000 grant to continue innovating global warming solutions.
Winning schools in the contest are: California State University, Chico; Mount Wachusett Community College, Gardner, Massachusetts; Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey; Richard Stockton College, Somers Point, New Jersey; Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon; University of California at Santa Barbara; Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio; the Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program has been an integral part of the campus greening movement since 1989. The nation’s 4,100 colleges and universities educate more than 15 million students in any given year making these schools important laboratories for creativity and innovation – keys to tackling a monumental crisis like global warming.
The National Wildlife Federation is America’s conservation organization protecting wildlife for our children’s future.