News-Letter

The student council has rejected a letter of resolution from the Hopkins Energy Action Team (HEAT) to propose that Hopkins accept a policy that would decrease the University's negative effect on climate change, including a measure to make the entirety of Homewood carbon neutral by 2015.

The letter of resolution, addressed to President Brody, Dean Falk, Dean Jones and Dean Boswell, deemed Hopkins the optimal institution for establishing such a policy: "There are few other institutions in society that have the influence, the critical mass and the diversity of skills needed to successfully make this transformation."

According to HEAT representatives, the organization is working to finish and revise the proposal, called the Responsible Energy Policy (REP) 2015, before presenting it again in its completed form to StuCo. It was unclear whether or not StuCo will participate in the revisions.

"Some of the StuCo members felt they couldn't express outright support for the Responsible Energy Policy without reviewing its final versio

said senior Blake Hough and freshman Teryn Norris-Hale, two leading members of HEAT.

Laura Hansell, president of Student Council, was unwilling to comment on some aspects of the council's decision because the vote occurred during a closed session.

"StuCo did not feel that it would be appropriate to pass such a letter because of the nuanced and slightly political nature of the issue, as well as our uncertainty of if our endorsing the letter would truly be reflective of the Student Body opinion," Hansell said.

In the letter, HEAT also noted the economic benefits of jobs that would be created by such a policy.

"The schools reap pure profit from any efforts in energy efficiency and reducing consumption, Hough and Norris-Hale said. "Renewable energy investments, while seemingly expensive in up-front costs, not only give a return within 10 to 15 years but also hedge against the likely increase in the future cost of fossil fuel energy."

Hough and Norris-Hale disagreed with Hansell, stating that by delaying the passage of this resolution, StuCo "is failing" to represent the interests of Hopkins students.

"StuCo has an enormous opportunity to take initiative on an issue the student body feels very strongly about. We feel like the support of StuCo will express to our administration in clear terms that the Hopkins community wants action on this issue," they argued.

Hansell stated that the Council's rejection of the letter "does not mean that StuCo does not value the environment or see Hopkins' role in preserving it."

According to Hough and Norris-Hale, the two organizations will work together to change some of the specific language in the letter so as to convey a more general resolution on the importance of the issue and the concerns of the student body.

The letter will then be presented again at the next StuCo meeting.

After gaining support from StuCo, Hough and Norris-Hale hope to work with administrators. The two remain optimistic that the administration will approve the REP 2015 policy, saying, "The overwhelming majority of students, student organizations, and prospective students at Hopkins support such a policy."

The preamble of REP 2015 calls on the University to establish and maintain carbon neutrality by 2015.

Carbon neutrality would involve changing Homewood's energy consumption with regard to electricity, heating and transportation fuels, so that there is zero net carbon emission. HEAT believes that anything less than adoption of a carbon neutral policy would be "a failure on the part of the Hopkins administration."

"HEAT created REP 2015 because we realize that climate change is the defining challenge facing our generation in the 21st century --- and we believe the world's leading climate scientists when they tell us that we have only until 2015 to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change," Hough and Norris-Hale said.

Hough and Norris-Hale also emphasize the other positive aspects that acceptance of such a policy could bring Hopkins, saying, "It puts Hopkins at forefront of an increasingly popular issue, attracts attention in the form of donor money and prospective students, and in the long run will save them money."

HEAT's suggestions for improving energy efficiency on campus include continuing retrofits of boilers, ventilation systems and lighting, as well as adding motion detectors to lights and vending machines.

Article Tools