This week marked the first national gathering of visionary leaders in the Campus Climate Movement. No fewer than 285 College and University Presidents have now signed up to the Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging themselves to 100% Climate Neutrality. They came together to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday to congratulate each other on their boldness, and prepare for the road ahead. (A similar gathering of students - at a much larger scale - will take place October 19th-22nd…be sure to check it out!)
I am proud to say that the President of my undergraduate institution, Eckerd College, is among those to have signed the agreement. Unfortunately, my graduate school, Harvard University (along with Stanford, Yale, and Princeton), have shown a tremendous lack of leadership and vision, especially given the enormous amount of resources at their disposal.
While this is very unfortunate, I think this is telling about the Climate/Clean Energy Movement. This movement isn’t about being led by those traditionally turned to for leadership…the “elites” have on the whole been pretty far behind on this issue, playing catch-up.
Instead, it has been the people themselves who have been in the lead. It is the people, and the power of our movement, that has helped show the way to the President’s Offices in our college and university campuses, and the people are and will continue to show the way to our “leaders” in Washington, D.C.
Congratulations to all those who contributed to these successes! And to all those who are working towards this or thinking about it: The path has been set. Now we just need the courage to follow it.
For more information on the DC President’s gathering, please see:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/12/news/Colleges-Climate-Change.php
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/education/13green.html?em&ex=1181880000&en=12737a6cfdac92ca&ei=5087%0A
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