Letters To The Editor

Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/26/08



Global Warming Is A Legitmate Threat

While I appreciate and encourage skepticism, Dan Cunningham's letter to President Hogan was filled with misinformation about the science and policy of global warming. There is an overwhelming international scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and is the result of human-derived greenhouse gases, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels. The only uncertainty that exists is how bad the effects will be, which largely depend on the extent to which we are able to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. There is also a political consensus about global warming. Both Democrats and Republicans (including the Bush administration) acknowledge global warming as a serious threat. The only disagreement that remains is how to deal with it.

One way more than 500 colleges and universities are dealing with global warming is by signing the Presidents Climate Commitment (PCC), which commits signatories to developing and implementing a plan for reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050. While this may seem like a daunting task, we have more than 40 years to reach this goal and making this commitment has numerous benefits. UConn has the potential to save millions of dollars in operational costs by improving energy efficiency and renovating and building green buildings. Many of these improvements are already underway, such as the new highly efficient co-generational power plant and UConn's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver building policy. The Burton-Shenkman complex was the first LEED building to be constructed at Uconn. Among numerous other environmentally preferable features the building is 35 percent more energy and water efficient than conventional buildings and the energy savings alone will pay for the LEED features of the building in less than 5 years. With green buildings we get better buildings that cost less to operate and reduce our environmental impact.

There are also numerous educational and research benefits that result from taking action against global warming. Signing the PCC will help promote research and education in growing environmental fields such as renewable energy technologies, environmental science and environmental economics, law and business. This will encourage interdisciplinary work and provide research and educational opportunities to students preparing them for rapidly emerging jobs. Furthermore, a more environmentally progressive and responsible UConn will enhance student environmental stewardship and awareness and will be more attractive to prospective students.

Top colleges and universities across the country are taking action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions because they recognize the associated economic and educational benefits and because they want to act socially and environmentally responsible. They want to demonstrate their role as leaders in a rapidly growing field by developing and implementing cutting edge technologies and ideas. As a graduate of Uconn I am proud President Hogan has decided to sign the PCC and I look forward to UConn taking leadership on what is shaping up to be a defining issue of the 21st century.



- Dan Britton,

Sustainability Coordinator,

UConn Office of Environmental Policy