CHICAGO, IL – The signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) announced a partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to dramatically accelerate and support the efforts of over 400 college and university presidents who have made the first sector-wide commitment to climate neutrality.
This partnership will enable colleges and universities to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions while lowering their energy bills by upgrading campus buildings without dipping into their capital budgets or increasing monthly operating expenses. President Bill Clinton launched the partnership during his keynote at the US Green Building Council’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo.
Eleven ACUPCC signatories also announced the launch of pilot projects with the CCI that will serve as models for other colleges and universities. These eleven schools (Allegheny College, Arizona State University, College of the Atlantic, Dakota County Technical College, Lee College, the Los Angeles Community College District, Middlebury College, Saint Lawrence University, Syracuse University, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Illinois at Chicago) mirror the diversity of the 427 schools in 47 states whose leaders have signed the ACUPCC.
“We’re grateful to President Clinton for giving higher education access to the truly impressive network of resources assembled by the CCI,” said President Michael Crow of Arizona State University. “As leaders of America’s colleges and universities, we believe that taking the bold and aggressive actions that are needed to solve climate change will be good for our students, our institutions, and our communities. The CCI partnership will allow colleges and universities to demonstrate that vision much more quickly.”
The partnership gives signatories of the ACUPCC access to funding mechanisms, technical assistance, and discounts on state of the art products from companies who have signed Memoranda of Understanding with the CCI. The CCI has secured commitments from 5 global financial institutions to each offer $1 billion of financing for energy efficiency retrofit projects, from eight leading energy services companies to perform the building retrofits and guarantee the energy savings, and more than twenty five manufacturers of energy efficient products who will offer discounts of up to 70 percent to project partners.
Launched in June 2007, the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment remains the only effort by any major sector of society to set a longterm goal to completely eliminate global warming emissions. In addition, the presidents have pledged a renewed dedication to the critical research and education needed to end global warming.
Under the guidance and direction of university presidents, the Commitment is being supported and implemented by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), Second Nature, and ecoAmerica. More information is available at www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org.
Contact: Lee Bodner, ecoAmerica, 301.379.4200
Media Contacts for Pilot Schools:
Allegheny College: Barb Steadman, 814-332-6755, barb.steadman@allegheny.edu
Arizona State University: Sharon Keeler, (480) 965-4012, sharon.keeler@asu.edu
College of the Atlantic: Donna Gold, 207-288-5015 x291, dgold@coa.edu
Dakota County Technical College: Ronald Thomas, 651-423-3088, ron.thomas@dctc.edu
LA Comm. College Dist.: Miya Walker, 213-486-6560 x308, mwalker@mww.com
Lee College Dennis Topper, 281-4215-6348, dtopper@lee.edu
Middlebury College: Jack Byrne, 802-443-5043, jmbyrne@middlebury.edu
St. Lawrence University: Lisa Kenya, 315-229-5567
Syracuse University: Tim Sweet, 315-443-3088
University of Colorado Boulder: Dave Newport, 303-492-8309,dave.newport@colorado.edu
University of Illinois at Chicago: Bill Burton, 312-996-2269, burton@uic.edu
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