Westminster Makes Commitment to Carbon Neutrality

None by Lara Jones

First Step: Emissions Inventory

(KCPW News) Westminster College has committed to becoming carbon neutral by signing on to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Provost Cid Seidelman, an economist by trade, says the move goes beyond a financial return on investment:

"And I think one of the things that really excites us about this initiative as well is the ways in which it's synergistic with much of our strategic planning about creating powerful new learning environments and creating innovative new pedagogies and learning designs built around opportunities for active, experiential, cross-disciplinary and collaborative kinds of learning dynamics."

By signing the pledge, Westminster is committed to reducing and ultimately neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions on the campus. Kerry Case, Coordinator of Westminster's Environmental Center, says one of the first steps in that process will be the completion of a greenhouse gas emissions inventory:

"And the good news is locally there are great partners to help us with this - groups like UTA that can help us look at the commuting that happens on campus. And the thing to remember about Westminster, and one of the advantages when we're looking at doing this commitment is, we're a pretty small campus, relatively speaking, with a small population. So it's easier to get a good bead on what's being emitted right now."

Case says the process will be transparent, with periodic progress reports made public. Westminster has already undertaken several environmental initiatives, including the purchase of wind power, adopting water-wise and native landscapes on campus, and installing a water harvesting system on its athletic field.

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