We, the students of Penn State, call on the University to employ its full resources to combat climate change and become a world leader in sustainability.
Climate change is an existential threat to the members of the Penn State community in Pennsylvania and around the world. The University has made meaningful commitments to slow and prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2017, Penn State signed the “We Are Still In” declaration, a commitment taken by thousands of signatories to uphold the targets of the UNFCC Paris Agreement on climate change, with or without support from the federal government.
In its Strategic Plan, Penn State envisioned itself as a leader in sustainability, and aligned us with the UN Sustainable Development Goals: “Penn State will be a leader in creating comprehensive solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change and address the challenges of providing safe and abundant water, clean and renewable energy sources, and plentiful and nutritious food.” The University took a step toward this vision when it committed to cut 80% of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and it has made substantial progress towards this goal by achieving a 32% reduction since 2005.
Penn State made these commitments because we acknowledge the seriousness of climate impacts and sees the opportunity to create a better world. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 8 of the hottest years in recorded history occurred over the past 10 years. Global heating has driven an increase in wildfires, for example the 2020 Australian bushfires and the 2019 California wildfires. It has also intensified flooding, as seen with historic flooding throughout central Pennsylvania in 2011 and in the Midwest in 2019, and hurricane damage from Maria, Harvey, Sandy, and Katrina, causing billions of dollars in damages. Carbon emissions have exacerbated health risks by increasing particulate emissions, and are making Pennsylvanians more vulnerable to infectious lung diseases like Covid-19. Changing climate also threatens our economic stability, damaging supply lines and energy infrastructure, and increasing the price volatility of fossil fuels.
Although Penn State has taken important steps, we are not meeting our commitment to uphold the Paris Agreement, and as more evidence comes forward from the world’s foremost climate scientists, many of whom work at Penn State, it is becoming increasingly clear that the world needs to intensify its current climate commitments. More importantly, we are falling short of our own potential; we are not doing the best we can do.
We call on the University to work with our considerable governmental, citizen, and business partners to lead with meaningful action to change the course of our climate and economic future by:
Climate change is an existential threat to the members of the Penn State community in Pennsylvania and around the world. The University has made meaningful commitments to slow and prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2017, Penn State signed the “We Are Still In” declaration, a commitment taken by thousands of signatories to uphold the targets of the UNFCC Paris Agreement on climate change, with or without support from the federal government.
In its Strategic Plan, Penn State envisioned itself as a leader in sustainability, and aligned us with the UN Sustainable Development Goals: “Penn State will be a leader in creating comprehensive solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change and address the challenges of providing safe and abundant water, clean and renewable energy sources, and plentiful and nutritious food.” The University took a step toward this vision when it committed to cut 80% of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and it has made substantial progress towards this goal by achieving a 32% reduction since 2005.
Penn State made these commitments because we acknowledge the seriousness of climate impacts and sees the opportunity to create a better world. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 8 of the hottest years in recorded history occurred over the past 10 years. Global heating has driven an increase in wildfires, for example the 2020 Australian bushfires and the 2019 California wildfires. It has also intensified flooding, as seen with historic flooding throughout central Pennsylvania in 2011 and in the Midwest in 2019, and hurricane damage from Maria, Harvey, Sandy, and Katrina, causing billions of dollars in damages. Carbon emissions have exacerbated health risks by increasing particulate emissions, and are making Pennsylvanians more vulnerable to infectious lung diseases like Covid-19. Changing climate also threatens our economic stability, damaging supply lines and energy infrastructure, and increasing the price volatility of fossil fuels.
Although Penn State has taken important steps, we are not meeting our commitment to uphold the Paris Agreement, and as more evidence comes forward from the world’s foremost climate scientists, many of whom work at Penn State, it is becoming increasingly clear that the world needs to intensify its current climate commitments. More importantly, we are falling short of our own potential; we are not doing the best we can do.
We call on the University to work with our considerable governmental, citizen, and business partners to lead with meaningful action to change the course of our climate and economic future by:
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions as rapidly as possible, setting a specific date between 2030 and 2040 for reaching net zero emissions.
- Prioritizing research efforts into carbon-capture technology, agricultural carbon sequestration, and carbon neutral fuels, and using our institutional partnerships to accelerate their deployment.
- Improving efforts to incorporate sustainability education into existing curriculum.
- Creating a Climate Action Commission made up of Penn State experts charged with the capacity to study, set policy, assess and publish progress on our climate commitments.
- Reallocating a portion of the existing student fee towards sustainability initiatives.
- Divesting from fossil fuels and investing in the green economy, especially energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and zero-emissions transportation.