Centre sets in motion plans to reduce its environmental impact

RELEASED: December 6, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—Earlier this year Centre College committed to reducing its carbon emissions with Centre President John Roush's signing of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Roush joins higher education leaders of more than 400 other institutions across the country in endorsing the goals of this pact. As one of the Commitment's earliest and most ardent supporters, Roush is also recognized as a member of the ACUPCC Leadership Circle.

Under provisions of the ACUPCC, Centre and other member institutions will work toward creating a comprehensive institutional action plan moving toward climate neutrality. While participating institutions are required to pledge at least two actions to the cause, Centre has made three pledges in an effort to decrease its environmental footprint.

"I am delighted to have Centre College be a charter signatory in the Presidents Climate Commitment," Roush said. "This is a matter of personal interest to me and a program in which I believe the College can assume a leadership position in the region. The ACUPCC is not to be viewed as a series of rules and regulations, but rather a call to do what is environmentally conscious within the context of what is right and possible for member institutions."

Roush has appointed 12 members of the Centre community to advise him during the process of reducing the College's carbon emissions. The advisory committee includes faculty, staff and student representatives who will detail an action plan that best suits the College. Those representatives are Mike Fabritius, Mike Hamm, Steven Jamison, Anne Lubbers, Elizabeth MacNabb, Scott Messer, Jennifer Muzyka, Patrick Noltemeyer, Endre Nyerges, Justin Roush, Christanna Schuman and Preston Miles, who chairs the committee.

"So far we've seen tremendous excitement about the project," says Miles, John C. Walkup Professor of Chemistry . "The reception by students, faculty and staff already working on the commitment has been exceptional. Ultimately, we hope the energy will carry out to the rest of the college community and shape a new generation of environmentally conscious citizens."

Currently, Centre is joined in the ACUPCC by nine members of the 15 Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) and is one of three Kentucky higher education institutions to sign the commitment. Presidents from Berea College and Northern Kentucky University have also joined the cause.

The ACUPCC is the first such effort by any major sector of society to set climate neutrality--not just greenhouse gas reduction--as its target. It is inspired by efforts such as the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership and other collective efforts by states and businesses.

ACUPCC addresses global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate.

Click here to visit Centre's ACUPCC Advisory Committee Web page.

Click here for more information about the ACUPCC.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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