While the federal government continues to avoid the harsh reality of climate change with absentee leadership in the international community and endless pandering to Big Fossil Fuels, aspiring leaders from academia have made it clear that they are not afraid to take up the call of this generation's greatest challenge.
In October of 2006, the presidents of 12 universities and colleges signed a pact to reduce their institutions' global warming impact, and became the founding members of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). By March of 2007, more than 150 presidents joined the ACUPCC. By September, the number had grown to 400. To date, there are 667 signatories, of which 402 have submitted action plans to achieve climate neutrality.
The tri-state area surrounding Cincinnati is a well known hot bed for neoconservative and Tea Party politics. Both of these ideologies have become so divorced from traditional conservative values, that, sadly, even a Republican conservationist hero like Teddy Roosevelt is preferred to be remembered as a liberal in these circles. Obviously, Greater Cincinnati isn't the ideal place for the dissemination of tree-hugging, job-killing, communist conspiracies like global warming.
This local political reality makes it very unlikely that an endeavor, such as the ACUPCC, could ever take root in the area's colleges and universities. However, bold leadership does not yield to conventional wisdom or petty politics. The Greater Cincinnati region can claim four signatories to the ACUPCC, and four brave visionaries that are leading their students into a battle for tomorrow. These brave presidents are:
- President James Votruba, Northern Kentucky University
- President Gregory Williams, University of Cincinnati
- President Michael Graham, Xavier University
- Former President John Henderson, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
The full list of signatories, by state, can be found here.
These local leaders have displayed extraordinary courage by aligning their institutions with a politically unpopular movement that calls for a universal transformation of human behavior. Furthermore, they have effectively led by example where politicians have failed miserably. They are to be commended by those who are in this fight, because the ACUPCC leaves absolutely no room for waffling on the root cause of global warming. That is clear from the introduction of the signed commitment:
We, the undersigned presidents and chancellors of colleges and universities, are deeply concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of global warming and its potential for large-scale, adverse health, social, economic and ecological effects. We recognize the scientific consensus that global warming is real and is largely being caused by humans. We further recognize the need to reduce the global emission of greenhouse gases by 80% by mid-century at the latest, in order to avert the worst impacts of global warming and to reestablish the more stable climatic conditions that have made human progress over the last 10,000 years possible.
"Global warming is real and is largely caused by humans." Wow, no punches pulled there! However, the commitment doesn't merely identify the problem. It goes on to define the poltical mandate for change:
We believe colleges and universities must exercise leadership in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways to minimize global warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality. Campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical and civil society. These colleges and universities will be providing students with the knowledge and skills needed to address the critical, systemic challenges faced by the world in this new century and enable them to benefit from the economic opportunities that will arise as a result of solutions they develop.
Read the full text of the commitment and required action items here.
Unquestionably, this is the type of leadership that is missing from the federal government. At the local level, administrators and executives are bucking the national trend of compromised leadership, and they're addressing climate change without wincing at the incorporated mouthpieces of denial. In fact, you will also find a few local mayors have signed similar pledges to lead their cities into more sustainable practices, in an effort to avert catastrophic climate change.
The time to act has nearly past the world by. Right now, delicate natural systems have become unbalanced, and are beginning to unlock vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, which will lead to problems humanity has never witnessed. The good Earth is suffering at the unfortunate intersection of ecology and economics, and time refuses a pause to first settle debt ceiling debates, budget battles, job bills, or elections. The moral imperative to transcend our destructive behavior has been lost on both sides of the aisle. The lack of response to this deepening crisis is the most convincing piece of evidence that a lockstep ideological two-party system is incapable of governing this nation competently. That is no excuse for apathy, though. If the current generation of political and business leaders won't acknowledge what is happening all around them, then there is a new crop eager to take their place. They are now graduating from forward looking universities, and entering the work force armed with critical experiences that harden the resolve to face our uncertain future. Even in the last places one would expect to find them.
Find out more about the ACUPCC initiatives at the green pages of Northern Kentucky University, University of Cincinnati, and Xavier University.
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