agenda2.org

NOV 2001

OPEN LETTER TO UM PRESIDENT BOLLINGER
FROM MICHIGAN FACULTY & STAFF FOR GLOBAL WARMING ACTION

October 31, 2001

President Lee Bollinger
University of Michigan
503 Thompson Street
2074 Fleming Administration Building
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1340

Dear President Bollinger,

The University of Michigan has a proud history of national leadership on environmental issues, including holding the first Earth Day event in 1970. Global warming is among the most fundamental long-term environmental threat and challenge of our times. The University of Michigan can and should be a leader in demonstrating positive solutions to global warming problems. All of the undersigned are members of the University of Michigan faculty and staff who value environmental stewardship and value the leadership role that our University can play in helping to promote global warming solutions.

We are writing to request that, before you depart, you commit the University of Michigan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to seven percent below its estimated 1990 levels by the year 2012. Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, are the pollutants that cause global warming. This goal follows the terms of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, signed by 84 countries in December 1997.

By doing so, the University of Michigan would join with other university, city and business leaders who are reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. In April 1999, Tufts University President John DiBiaggio publicly committed to reducing Tufts’ carbon dioxide emissions by seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Cornell University is considering similar initiatives. BP, DuPont, IBM, Johnson and Johnson, Polaroid Corporation, Royal Dutch/Shell, Suncor and other major corporations have likewise made emission-reduction commitments. Closer to home, the City of Ann Arbor, an active member of the Cities for Climate Protection Program, has completed a global warming emissions inventory and is developing a greenhouse gas emissions reduction action plan for its municipal government and the Ann Arbor community. The University of Michigan should join this group of environmental leaders.

The University of Michigan has already realized significant emission reductions by using natural gas in its cogeneration power plant, adopting alternative fuels for some of its fleet vehicles, and retrofitting buildings with efficient lighting and HVAC systems. Nevertheless, the University of Michigan is in an excellent position to reduce greenhouse gas emissions further through its energy-efficiency programs for buildings and high-efficiency co-generation power plant. Furthermore, large amounts of energy and air emissions could be saved cost-effectively if the aforementioned program were guided by a goal-oriented emission-reduction framework.

Such a framework might include:

l Inclusion of the Hospital, the Housing and Athletic Departments into EPA’s Energy-Star program;

l Selective increase of the current 5-year payback-time requirements for energy efficiency measures;

l More effective education of academic department heads and administrators about energy-conscious scheduling and behavior;

l Use of the $1 million annual savings from the new electricity supply contract to exceed the City of Ann Arbor’s renewable energy percentage requirements (AA electric franchise);

l Proactive participation in developing the ‘green power’ market by becoming a member of the new Michigan Power Coop;

l Installation of renewable-energy systems on campus buildings; and

l Specifications for more passive heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting strategies in building design.

Your public commitment will highlight the significance of these initiatives and expand the University’s actions to make the necessary environmental improvements to mitigate global warming. Your leadership will set the standard for your successor and other university presidents and demonstrate that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are possible and responsible.

Commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will also provide significant educational opportunities for University of Michigan students. These opportunities are abundant - from atmospheric science to the economics of energy efficiency to public health improvements - and they will help prepare University of Michigan students to lead the way in our changing world. Students who are knowledgeable about the environmental and financial opportunities to minimize pollution will be important participants in the 21st century workforce.

We ask that, before you depart, your Administration put in motion the development of a comprehensive program that will reduce and monitor the University’s greenhouse gas emissions. As faculty members concerned about the protection and improvement of the environment, we would be pleased to work with you to help design and implement your public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus. Faculty member Catherine Badgley and one of our alumni representatives, Howard Learner (U of Michigan, 1976), will contact you in the next two weeks to request a time for a group of the undersigned faculty to meet with you to discuss this opportunity. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to learning about your plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the University of Michigan.

Sincerely,

Keith Aaronson, Med

David Allan, SNRE

Roger Albin, Med

Kathie Albright, Med

Shelley Almburg, Bio

Achilleas Anastasopoulos, Elec Engin

Elizabeth Anderson, Phil

Robert Anderson, Educ

Cathy Antonakos, Nurs

Kelly Askew, Anthro

Sushil Atreya, AOS

Catherine Badgley, Envr

Dennis Baker, AOS

Percy Bates, Educ

Stuart Batterman, Envr

Veronica Benet-Martinez, Psych

Raymond Bingham, Med

William Bolcom, Music

Katarina Borer, Kinesio

Lorrie Brach, SPH

James Breck, SNRE

Shannon Brines, SNRE

Sharon Brooks, Dent

Scott Brown, Soc Res

Siglind Bruhn, Humanities

Bunyan Bryant, SNRE

Joyce Budai, Geo

Robyn Burnham, Eco

John Carson, Hist

Paul Carson, Med

Timothy Cheek, Music

Yan Chen, Econ

David Cooke, Med

Stephen Cooper, Bio

Virgil Cope, Chem, Flint

Penelope Crawford, Music

Mary Crichton, German

James Crowfoot, SNRE? 

Julie Cullen, Econ

Douglas Davies, Soc Wk

Gerald DePuit, Music

Raymond De Young, SNRE

James Diana, SNRE

Thomas Donahue, Phys

Harry Douthit, Bio

S. Roland Drayson, AOS

Geraldine Durka-Pelok, Anat

Ben Dwamena, Med

Jacquelynne Eccles, Psych

Geoffrey Eley, Hist

Guenther Elste, Astro

Juliet Erazo, SNRE

Stephen Ethier, Med

William Farrand, Geo

Dan Ferris, Biomed Engin

Michael Fetters, Med

Daniel Fisher, Paleo

Monique Fleming, Psych

Robert Fogel, Med

Richard Ford, Anthro

Suzanne Fraker, Eye

Isaac Francis, Med

Jacqueline Francis, Art Hist

Katie Freese, Phys

Bartley Frueh, Med

Gerald Gardner, Psych

Joseph Gemmete, Med

Orin Gelderloos, Bio

Geoffrey Gerstner, Dent

Brenda Gillespie, SPH

Thomas Gladwin, Biz

Jennifer Gordenier, Eye

Jennifer Gordon, Rom

Lori Graf, Med

Donald Gray, Env Engin

Bob Grese, SNRE

Joseph Grigely, Art Hist

Mary Haan, SPH

Carl Hanks, Dent

David Harris, Educ

Charlotte Harrison, Med

Gloria Helfand, SNRE

Debbie Hemmeter, Env Engin

Anne Heybey, SPH

Juli Highfill, Rom

Nancy Houk, Astro

Helaine Hunscher, SNRE

Karen Hunt, Med

Kali Israel, Hist

Michael Jibson, Med

Mark Johnson, Med

Timothy Johnson, SPH

Katie Jones, German

Larry Junck, Med

Julie Kafkalidis, AOS

Rachana Kamtekar, Phil

Gordon Kane, Phys

Paul Kantor, Music

Heather Kapp, Nurs

Maher Karam-Hage, Med

David Katz, SNRE

Bill Kauffman, Aero Engin

Peter Kaufman, Res Coll

Brian Kennedy, Geo

George Kling, Eco

Arnold Kluge, Bio

Jim Koopman, SPH

Robert Kyes, German

Kathleen Kyndely, Soc Wk

Sangeeta Labhsetwar, Biz

Barbara Laird, CASL, Dearborn

Frankie Laporte, Med

Steven Leber, Med

Shawna Lee, Soc Wk

Jonathan Levine, Urb Plan

Simon Levine, Biomed Engin

Geoff Lewis, SNRE

Israel Liberzon, Psychiatry

Rita Loch-Caruso, Med

Louis LoMonaco, Art

Eric Lormand, Phil

Barbara Luke, Med

Judith Lynch-Sauer, Nurs

Jennifer Jacobus MacKay, SNRE

Robert Marans, Urb Plan

Bruce Martin, Med

Ernest McCarus, Near East

Kellie McElhaney, Biz

Guy Meadows, Ocean Engin

Roberto Merlin, Phys

John Middlebrooks, Med

Rees Midgley, Med

Kelli Mineard, Popul

David Mindell, Eco

Stephen Modell, SPH

Maria Montoya, Hist

Michael Moore, SNRE

Thomas Moore, Zoo

Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Hist

Anna Muncer, Popul

Kent Murray, Geo

Katta Murty, Indus Engin

Philip Myers, Zoo

Gayl Ness, Socio

Jun Ni, Mech Engin

Karen Ocorr, Bio

Heather Oleniczak, Soc Wk

Daphna Oyserman, Soc Wk

Paresh Patel, Psychiatry

William Paulson, French

Carl Pierson, Microbio

Elaine Pitt, Med

Joanne Pohl, Nurs

Peter Pollack, SNRE

Stephen Pollock, Indus Engin

Friedrich Port, Med

David Porter, English

Celine Portet, Rom

Marty Powers, Chinese

Jeanne Raisler, Nurs

Beverly Rathcke, Bio

Michael Reisch, Soc Wk

Nick Rine, Law

Thomas Robins, SPH

Phillip Rodgers, Med

Willard Rodgers, Soc Res

Marc Ross, Phys

Jonathan Rubin, Med

Namita Sachdev, Med

Romesh Saigal, Indus Engin

Laura Sanders, Soc Wk

Richard Sands, Phys

John Santinga, Med

Mark Saper, Biochem

Andreas Schonle, Russian

Peter Scott, Math

Chris Seifert, Med

Colleen Seifert, Psych

David Shappirio, Bio

Stefanie Siegmund, Hist

Sanford Sillman, AOS

Gaurang Shah, Med

David Singer, Poli

Barb Smuts, Psych

Rachel Somerville, Astro

George Steinmetz, Socio

Addison Stone, Educ

Sarah M. Swanson, SNRE

Sara Tallaksen-Greene, Med

Kathryn Tosney, Bio

Galip Ulsoy, Mech Engin

Derek Vaillant, Commun

John Vandermeer, Bio

Katherine Verdery, Anthro

Shirley Verrett, Music

Diane Kaplan Vinokur, Soc Wk

Edward Voss, Botany

Frances Wakefield, Med

Mary Nehra Waldo, Eye Ctr

Kendall Walton, Phil

Peter Washabaugh, Aero Engin

Rick Wasserman, Math

Kathy Welch, Stat

Walter Weber, Env Engin

Robert Werner, Med

Edgar Westrum, Jr., Chem

David Williams, Socio

Elizabeth Rose Wingrove, Poli

Leigh Woods, Theatre

Wei Yang, Med

Mayer Zald, Soc Wk

Philip Zazove, Med

(all units listed for ID only)

SNRE = Natural Resources & Enironment

AOS = Atmos, Ocean & Space Sciences

SPH = Public Health

 

NOV 2001

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