U Ottawa to Divest From Fossil Fuels
The university recently announced that it will divest all its direct equity fossil fuel holdings by 2023 and all indirect holdings by 2030. The university also announced plans to set a 10 percent target of its overall long-term portfolio to be committed to sustainable investments by the end of 2025.
Rice U Announces 2030 Carbon Neutrality Plans
The university's recently announced plans for carbon neutrality by 2030 include sustainability goals related to the institution's endowment, campus operations and curriculum, research, and student leadership.
U Alabama Renames Hall After First Black Student
The university's board of trustees unanimously voted recently to remove the name of a former Ku Klux Klan leader from a campus building and rename it for the first Black student to attend the institution, Autherine Lucy Foster.
U Surrey Enters Renewable Energy Partnership
(U.K.) The university recently announced a strategic partnership that will significantly increase the onsite renewable energy generation from 0.1 percent to 20 percent of total annual demand.
EPA Releases Top 30 Green Power Usage List
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently released the top 30 college and university Green Power Partners, as ranked by green power use. The University of California, Arizona State University and the University of Iowa are the top three ranked (respectively) higher education institutions for their usage of green power. Ten institutions on the list purchase green power in an amount equal to or exceeding 100 percent of their institution-wide electricity use.
AASHE Publishes 2021 Annual Impact Report
AASHE recently released an annual impact report detailing progress throughout 2021. Highlights include the introduction of a new award category, the Racial Equity and Sustainability Collaborations Award; publishing the second volume of No Sustainability Without Justice, an Anthology on Racial Equity and Social Justice; and information about the more than 20 advocacy initiatives that AASHE supported.
Colorado State U to Launch Air Travel Offset Program
Starting Feb. 1, the university will assess a $10 offset fee for domestic air travel trips and $20 for international air travel trips on university business. Sponsored research travel and trips paid for with personal funds will be exempt.
MIT Initiates the Energy Systems Research Center
Working with energy partners, the new research consortium, the Future Energy Systems Center, aims to address the climate crisis and the role energy systems can play in solving it. The center investigates the emerging technology, policy, demographics and economics reshaping the landscape of energy supply and demand, then conducts integrative analysis of the entire energy system.
