Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: News

Senator junior Brett Wiley disccusses the reasoning behind the President's Climate Commitment project and how it could impact Truman in the Magruder greenhouse late Monday morning.

The Student Senate's Campus Environment Committee is hoping to make Truman more environmentally friendly.

The President's Climate Commitment is a statement promising that the University will reduce carbon emissions and take steps to fight climate change from global warming.

Senior Brett Wiley, senator and member of the Campus Environment Committee, said universities need to lead the way in reducing their environmental impact.

"Global climate change is one of the key issues driving our world socially and economically," Wiley said. "If universities are not committing to this, they're saying to students ... that this issue doesn't matter."

Signing the commitment would be a promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and commit to environmentally friendly practices. Wiley said this goal is in sync with the goals of the University.

"The curriculum commissions [report] said that Truman graduates need to be ... socially responsible leaders and engaged world citizens," Wiley said. "They also said that students need to develop a better understanding of the natural, sociocultural and historical forces that shape our world."

Wiley said he thinks this understanding could come from a commitment to reduce carbon emissions.

"If Truman State University does not act on issuing a sustainability statement, then the curriculum commission ... is hypocritical," Wiley said.

So far, 487 universities have agreed to the President's Climate Commitment, 12 of which are members of COPLAC, the Council on Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Truman also is a member of this council.

"I think that if 12 other COPLAC schools have signed on, then ... the President's Climate Commitment should be feasible for Truman State," Wiley said.

However, not everyone agrees that signing the commitment would be a good course of action for the University. Karl Schneider, physical plant director and chairman of the President's Environmental Advisory Committee, does not believe that the President's Climate Commitment is practical for Truman's budget.

Continued...

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