Sustainability News and Events

Students of a Warming World: Ethics, Policy, and Action

Course Description:

Environmental problems can be incredibly complicated, in moral as well as in economic, political, and biological terms. It is easy to oversimplify the problems, and the solutions. When it comes to environmental problems, what are we responsible and accountable for as individuals? How are our responsibilities affected by the fact that we act in, create, and support institutions? What do we owe to ourselves, to each other, and perhaps to the biosphere itself? This course is intended to be an introduction to the questions and problems that arise in discussion on climate change. The “Action” component of the class will require students to participate in this year’s planning of Focus the Nation which includes a campus wide “Teach-In” and Community Expo.

More Details:

This class can be broken down into two main components:

The first is academic. We will aim to achieve a basic level of climate science literacy, focus on questions of moral obligation in concern with climate change, explore sustainability in education, and aim to introduce ourselves to state and federal environmental policies. The class will also work with the DePauw Environmental Policy Project group, a winter term class that will be taught by Kelsey Kauffman and is a continuation of a semester-long policy research class- also known as “DEPP”. The “Students of a Warming World” will serve as an audience for mock Legislative testimony, and observe DEPP testimony at the state legislature.

The second large component of the class will be planning this year’s “Focus the Nation” Event. Focus the Nation is comprised of a campus wide Teach-IN day where faculty and staff lead sessions and discussions on climate change across various disciplines and a Greencastle Community Expo where members of the community showcase their efforts on sustainability for a student and community-wide audience. Through this process, students will 1) become more aware of a cross-disciplinary approach to sustainability, 2) forge and sustain connections with the Greencastle community at large, and 3) become familiar with the legislative process.

Here is some background on Focus the Nation:

“This January nearly a million people at more than 1,900 Focus the Nation events began a conversation on global warming solutions with 64 members of Congress, 15 governors and countless local and state politicians. Colleges and Universities, K-12 schools, community and faith groups and businesses came together for a day of education and action.” -FTN website. DePauw hosted one of those events, it was hugely successful and we hope to continue it this year.

We described the event as a a time when “students, teachers, business and community leaders, politicians, and everyday citizens gathered on campuses across the country to participate in a non-partisan, interdisciplinary global warming superbowl of academic discussions, community-based meetings, workshops, and political forums. The goal is simple: Raise awareness in the first 100 days of the new administration.” -DePauw’s FTN website.

Contact Tiffany Briery at  Tbriery at depauw.edu for more information.

Khristen Phillips is leading the One Book project at Greencastle Highschool in which she is engaging as many students and teachers as she can to read Chad Pregrake’s book “From the Bottom Up” and has invited the author to speak at the High school and at DePauw on February 4, 2009. The event will coincide with this February’s Focus the Nation “Teach-In” event when the nation’s schools stop and devote their attention to climate change issues. Part of Mrs. Phillips project includes facilitating River clean-ups in the area and the first clean-up was a great success. Students pulled over 40 tires and other items out of Walnut creek on October 18th. Read more about Chad Pregrake and his book below. Visit his website at  http://www.livinglandsandwaters.org/

Chad Pregracke

    Taking care to let others know how much he appreciates their hard work, volunteer efforts, in-kind contributions and monetary donations is just a natural part of Chad Pregracke’s engaging personality.  Chad raises the bar on leadership, motivating others through his infectious, positive outlook and incomparable sense of humor.  Founder & President of Living Lands & Waters, Chad Pregracke is living, breathing proof that one person can make a difference.

    The Mississippi River was literally Chad’s back yard while he was growing up, spending the majority of his time on, in, and around the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

    While attending high school and college, Chad worked as a commercial shell diver, commercial fisherman, and barge hand during the summers, and sometimes lived on the islands in the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.  During that time he noticed that the condition of the rivers was getting worse due to the accumulation of trash on the shorelines. Based on his concern, Chad set out in the spring of 1997 to make a difference… one river at a time…one piece of garbage at a time.  

 In 1998 he founded Living Lands & Waters, the not-for-profit environmental organization based in East Moline, Illinois.  Today there are 10 employees and a fleet of barges, and workboats. Tens of thousands of volunteers have been involved with the Community-based River Cleanups, Riverbottom Restoration Projects, Adopt-a-River Mile Program, and Big River Educational Workshops. 

 Chad continues to be deserving of the more than 40 awards bestowed him, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service presented to him in June of 2002 in the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC.  Chad accepted that award along with Rudolph Giuliani, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Lilly Tartikoff.  In August of 2002, Chad was invited by the Coca-Cola Company to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Environments in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he met and shared information about his river cleanup projects with people from all over the world. Since then, Chad’s projects have been filmed by many of the major networks such as CNN, Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning Show, NBC Nightly News, MTV, PBS, and the list goes on and on.  Time, People Magazine, Readers’ Digest, Life, Outside, Smithsonian, and National Geographic are among the numerous publications in which Chad has been featured.

 Released in April of 2007, From the Bottom Up: One Man’s Crusade to Clean America’s Rivers (National Geographic Books), chronicles Chad’s incredible journey cleaning up America’s rivers one tire at a time.  The book shares Chad’s personal story and the beginning of his grassroots organization, Living Lands & Waters, which has captured America’s imagination and motivated thousands of people across the country to clean up our country’s rivers and waterways.  What started as one man’s crusade has become an ever-evolving worldwide movement to educate people and connect them with their environment.

Be a part of the

Presidents Climate Commitment

Implementation Plan
What’s the first step?
DePauw’s Carbon Footprint

Oct 9, 2008- New Administrative Sustainability Coordinator, Carol Steele joined sustainability intern Taylor Cantril in reviewing the carbon footprint analysis that was done last year by Jon Sperl and Barrett Ellsworth as a student project. Jon covered what we learned from the process last year as well as the limitation of their projects analysis in that it didn’t account for things like transportation or Greek housing. Carol Steele spoke on where DePauw is going from here and how we hope to do a comprehensive carbon footprint that will factor in these missing elements and include as many people in the process as possible. The meeting was intended to encourage DePauw students, faculty, and staff to become part of the planning for how we make the analysis more comprehensive, and to be part of continuing the calculation this year as part of the Presidents Climate Commitment. More sessions are forthcoming and a committee devoted to carrying out a carbon footprint is in the works. If you’d like to get involved contact Carol Steele or Tiffany Briery.

October 4^th 9:30 am-5 pm at the Prindle Institute for Ethics

The DePauw Environmental Policy Project invited all Indiana students to discuss the future of Indiana’s environmental policies. The conference included workshops about the legislative process, alternative energy sources in Indiana, energy policies, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), green buildings, and more. The conference included talks from representative Matt Pierce on the legislative process and Prindle architect Randy Shoemaker on Green Buildings. Young people organizations such as 1Sky and Power Vote also had representatives at the DEPP conference.

The turnout for this event was large and included a huge group of students from Purdue University. The event ended in a huge conversation about where to go from here and how to mobilize students on Indiana campus to become a part of environmental policy decisions. Students from other school suggested that IN-ergize become a traveling conference that moves to a different school each year to continue building alliances between Indiana campuses and keeps students inform on developments at the state legislature. If you’d like to become a part of this alliance check out the Indiana Campus Sustainability Alliance, and look out for an upcoming newsletter entitled “The New Indiana: Sustainable Times”.

Sep 15, 2008- President Casey signs the ACUPCC and there is a press release announcing the signing and the appointment of a new half-time Sustainability Coordinator. During the press release, Casey explicitly mentions how the prompt communication from then-freshman Anthony Baratta influenced his signing the PCC so soon in his administration.

Read the Press Release here:

Press Release:

“September 15, 2008, Greencastle, Ind. – DePauw University today demonstrated its commitment to environmental responsibility and counteracting climate change by signing the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. By signing the commitment, DePauw’s Brian W. Casey joins 575 college and university presidents and chancellors across America who are pledging to neutralize the greenhouse gas emissions of their institutions and make environmental awareness a key component of campus life.

President Casey has charged Neal B. Abraham, executive vice president of the University, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty, to develop a plan for implementation of the pledge and present it to the community by December 1. Abraham will be charged specifically to see how the University’s academic program can support — and can be enriched by — the University’s sustainability efforts.

Present at this morning’s announcement were DePauw student leaders; faculty members Jeanette Pope, Kelsey Kauffman and Jennifer Everett (who oversaw DePauw’s sustainability efforts last year); and Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray. As it continues to look for new environmental efficiencies, DePauw will share information with Greencastle, which has been named 2008 “Green Community of the Year” (along with Bloomington) by the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns.

“These are issues which are enormously important to our students and which many of them are already doing something about in the way they live their everyday lives,” Dr. Casey said as he signed the commitment. He noted that the first e-mail he received after being named DePauw’s 19th president was from sophomore Anthony Baratta, asking Casey to ramp up DePauw’s sustainability efforts.

“As part of the task of educating young people we must also listen to their concerns and ensure that the University itself is living up to its obligations as a citizen of the world. Today’s move means that DePauw is committed to enhancing the work it has done in recent years to be a place that finds innovative ways to reduce the strain it puts on Earth’s resources. This is also a pledge that DePauw will enhance its already rich discussions of environmental issues and problem-solving throughout the University’s academic life.”

By becoming a signatory of the Presidents Climate Commitment, DePauw University pledges to begin the process of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and becoming climate-neutral. The document states that universities can be leaders in serving as “role models for their communities and in training the people who will develop the social, economic and technological solutions to reverse global warming.” In addition, the presidents and chancellors signing the commitment say they believe that taking action will stabilize or reduce their institution’s energy costs, will attract excellent students and faculty, as well as new funding sources, and will increase the support of alumni and local communities.

and sophomore Taylor Dr. Abraham announced today that he is appointing Carol Steele, associate dean of academic affairs, to serve as administrative coordinator of DePauw’s sustainability efforts and of compliance with the Presidents Climate Commitment. She will be assisted by Tiffany Briery, a 2008 DePauw graduate and fifth-year intern, as well as senior Missy Orr and sophomore Taylor Cantril.

Learn more about the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment by clicking here.

DePauw’s new Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics recently became the first building in Indiana to earn a LEED New Construction Gold 2.2 rating for energy efficiency and environmental design from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Prindle Institute is featured in the latest edition of Environmental Design + Construction magazine.

The Bartlett Reflection Center, which is in the final stages of construction near the Prindle Institute within the DePauw Nature Park, has also been designed to obtain LEED certification.

On August 21, the National Wildlife Federation honored DePauw University for its efforts to promote sustainability in its report, “Campus Environment 2008: A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education.” Details can be found in this previous story.

Learn more about DePauw’s sustainability efforts by clicking here.”

Sep 11, 2008- President Casey met with four student interns and the Sustainability Interns Supervisor to discuss the role of sustainability programs in DePauw’s intellectual initiatives. In advance, he was presented with a comprehensive “Sustainability Status Report” outlining the ethical arguments for a Higher Ed institution to commit to sustainability, as well as a review of all sustainability related movements on campus. This report was especially helpful in convincing President Casey to sign. The strategy of the meeting was to emphasize how sustainability epitomizes what Casey’s vision and goals for DePauw already were. Again, although the interns did not intend to campaign for the ACUPCC at this meeting, President Casey announced that he was convinced that it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it.

The Agenda of the meeting with President Casey:

The Role of Sustainability Programs in

DePauw’s Institutional Priorities

Meeting with President Casey

September 11, 2008

DePauw’s sustainability initiatives embody precisely the priorities set out for DePauw under the new administration of President Casey. We embrace these goals wholeheartedly.

1. Strengthen DePauw’s intellectual climate vis-à-vis the social climate on campus.
2. Develop a coherent vision of DePauw’s identity vis-à-vis our various sub-DePauw identities.
3. Tell DePauw’s story effectively in a competitive admissions market.
4. Strengthen the local community and town-gown relations.

DePauw’s efforts to promote sustainability education and campus practices have the potential to achieve these goals to a superlative degree. Our sustainability programs, however, now stand at a critical juncture requiring administrative support and investment.

Tiffany Briery – The Importance of Institutional Leadership

· 5^th Year Internship

· Sustainability Coordinator

Missy! Orr – Building Community Relations on Campus and Beyond

· Start Green
· Greencastle

Sarah Batto – Raising the Intellectual Bar

· DePauw Environmental Policy Project (DEPP)

Taylor Cantril – Academic Engagement Across Campus Sectors and Disciplines

· Focus the Nation

· Energy Wars

Recommendations:

1. Pursue sustainability as an academic priority.

2. Invest in sustainability personnel.

3. Make sustainability commitments official.

Sep 10, 2008:

DEPP member Keelin Kelly worked hard to bring renewable energy expert Paul Gipe to campus to speak on the prospects of renewable energy in the US. The discussion had a great turn out and sparked an interesting Q and A session.

Paul Gipe is a wind energy expert. He has had extensive experience developing wind farm projects and supporting policies to incentivize renewable energy. He is an expert on feed-in tariff policy, the policy that is credited with creating a boom in Germany’s renewable energy production.

Learn more about Gipe’s talk here:

http://media.www.thedepauw.com/media/storage/paper912/news/2008/09/12/News/Wind-Energy.Specialist.Speaks.To.Students-3428930.shtml

Learn more on on wind energy, Feed-in Tariffs, and Advanced Renewable Tariffs by visiting Gipe’s website http://www.wind-works.org/

Tues Sep. 2, 2008

Interns of the DePauw Environmental Policy project impressed a packed room of students, faculty, and staff with a presentation of their summer environmental policy research. Topics spanned from how to impact policy decisions on the state level, to a rundown of likely topics to come up this January at the state legislature. The level of engagement in the Q & A session was exception and hints at the ever growing interest at DePauw in Environmental Policy issues.

The ground breaking project was covered in The DePauw:

“When Forbes Magazine ranked Indiana as the 49th greenest state, the DePauw Environmental Policy Project took sustainability concerns into its own hands, researching topics such as air quality, carbon footprints and water quality. Beyond the months of research, the interns wrote more than 20 letters to legislators, aiming to be influential in Indiana’s environmental policy.” Read more here:
http://media.www.thedepauw.com/media/storage/paper912/news/2008/09/05/News/Students.Promote.Environmentalism-3417749.shtml
The DEPP group will be testifying and presenting information about these issues to legislators this January. Contact DEPP’s intern Sarah Batto at  Battosa at gmail.com if you’re interested in getting involved!