This Friday, the UC Steering Committee on Sustainability plans
to vote on a proposal to make the University of California climate
neutral, meaning that the university would reduce its greenhouse
gas emissions as much as possible and plant trees or other
carbon-absorbing plants to offset remaining emissions.
“(If they vote yes), eventually there would be no net
impact on the environment,” said Dorothy Le, a fifth-year
environmental science student and member of E3, a campus
sustainability organization.
Students gathered in Meyerhoff Park on Tuesday morning to show
their support for sustainability at UCLA and throughout the UC
system. They hope that the UC Steering Committee on Sustainability
will recommend a climate-neutral future for the university and
support discussing plans for sustainability at UCLA.
The committee would recommend actions to UC President Robert
Dynes, who would then forward the committee’s decision to the
UC Board of Regents for final approval.
The UC has already taken steps to reduce emissions, including a
mandate that all new buildings be designed to “green”
standards and a proposal to purchase 20 percent renewable energy by
2017.
Students at UC Santa Cruz already voted to increase fees to buy
100 percent renewable energy for the campus, said Ankur Patel, a
fourth-year ecology and evolutionary biology student.
Le said UCLA has already taken steps toward a more sustainable
campus such as Associated Students UCLA’s efforts to build La
Kretz Hall ““ the first green building at UCLA ““ and to
have a fleet of natural-gas vehicles on campus.
The students who gathered Tuesday morning were part of a
national group that is working toward making 1,000 colleges more
sustainable and eventually, climate neutral.
“I believe this will be the defining challenge of our
generation,” said Billy Perish, a Yale dropout who felt the
calling of activism.
On Tuesday evening, the Undergraduate Students Association
Council voted to pass a resolution supporting a mandate that the UC
form a plan to become climate neutral.
Carlos Saucedo, a USAC general representative, said he would
like to make sure students are aware of the importance of climate
neutrality.
Patel said Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams has already agreed
to work with student groups and has pledged to make the campus more
sustainable.
“We want to create a coalition of student groups and bring
together students, faculty and administration to take leadership on
the issue,” he said.