Framingham State President Signs onto Climate Change Letter

Framingham State University has joined over a hundred other higher education institutions in urging President-elect Donald Trump and Congress to support clean energy and environmental initiatives. F. Javier Cevallos, President of the University, signed onto the public letter put together by climate education non-profit Second Nature.

See the letter here.

The letter, released Dec. 19 asks for participation in the Paris Agreement in particular, and to support research at universities that involve climate and energy policy. Framingham State has its own climate action plan, which has been updated regularly for six years. The 2015 goal was to achieve the goal of 25% electricity being produced by renewable sources.

One of the greatest concerns is energy expended in transportation to the University. Seventy percent of the University staff, faculty, and students commute to the campus. Researchers estimated that this creates 15,991 metric tons of CO2 emissions. Solutions being tried out include promoting public transportation use, efficient classroom scheduling during commute times with high traffic, and establishing a no-idling policy for all of the University and guest vehicles.

Cevallos told Patch, "Because of our community’s longstanding commitment to being responsible environmental stewards, I felt compelled to sign onto this letter urging the next presidential administration to lead on these issues." He added that the Student Green Team, and Facilities Department and Environmental Science Professor Carl Hakansson are working actively on University environmental issues.

Other efforts accomplished by University include converting a the school's heating plan from oil to natural gas, rearranging schedules to minimize the number of days students have to drive to campus, and implementing a composting program with food service provider Sodexo. The school also purchases renewable energy certificates, and has a geothermal well.

Colleges can continue to participate until January 13, 2017, the final letter will be sent to the new Congressional delegation and incoming Presidential transition team.

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