Congress addresses sustainability issues

Those universities looking to become more energy-efficient or increase campus sustainability may have a little help from the federal government, but funding should not be expected until 2010, said spokespeople for the National Wildlife Federation.Signed into law by President George W. Bush on Aug. 14, the Higher Education Sustainability Act as part of the new Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 could allow for up to $50 million for institutions of higher education to take those steps towards turning green.

Another sign of sustainability on campus was indicated by a university report card that was recently released, highlighting those institutions across the nation that have made particular strides in turning green, said Julian Keniry, senior director of Campus Ecology at the National Wildlife Federation.

The report card, Campus Environment 2008, examines the 1,068 responding universities, of which 240 were identified as having a variety of exemplary programs in place, including energy efficiency, green transportation and education of conservation.

The report, which is available at campusecology.org, examined two year and four year institutions as well as state and private universities. Nebraska had 10 participating institutions, but only Chadron State College stood out due to its programs related to campus clean energy sources, Keniry said.

"There were some schools that really stood out, quite a few really strong programs in place. As a

nation we're doing a pretty good job greening the campus, tending energy, greener buildings,

retrofitting older buildings, but we're lagging behind on educating students," Keniry said.

"We're not preaching what we practice, just not happening. Students in certain disciplines, health sciences, engineering, business, are barely being exposed to sustainability issues at all."

This is where HESA comes in. Awaiting appropriation by Congress, the bill's impact could hinge on the amount of money available, said James Elder, director of the Campaign for Environmental Literacy.

"Next step is to make sure Congress appropriates as close to the $50 million, just another phase of this campaign to go through," Elder said.

"At the moment it may mean nothing. The government fiscal year ends inSeptember and Oct.1 will be the 2009 fiscal year. Securing funds for 2009 seems unlikely, far more likely that funds will be in the 2010 budget."

The hope would be that the money would go toward innovation and high leverage demonstration programs particularly on the education side, Elder said.

There are about 4,000 higher education campuses the bill aims to transform.

"I think that universities are one of the biggest sectors that has the most leverage, they're the nation's incubator for future leaders, they prepare most of the professionals who lead and influence society," Elder said. "They have significant economic social footprints, they have the unique academic freedom as well as the critical mass to develop new ideas and experiment in this arena."

Keniry said hopefully down the road, the proper amount, billions, could be devoted to the issue.

"If not colleges and universities, who will lead?" said Keniry. "Colleges and universities have to lead and they're also really uniquely positioned to lead, blessed with so many disciplines and professionals and resources."

Both Elder and Keniry said these first few steps toward making sweeping energy changes were absolutely necessary and a good start in making changes in how humans interact with the environment.

"It's about making a transition to a new world view that recognizes we're up against the limits of nature and that we need to start recognizing that humans are basically a subset of nature, rather than nature being a subset of humans," Elder said.