Climate Initiative

The Williams College Climate Initiative

Climate change is a preeminent challenge of our time. Its effects will be felt throughout the world for generations to come. Williamstown, the state of Massachusetts, and peer institutions have already set targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions. As one of the nation’s foremost institutions of higher learning, Williams College has an obligation to lead by example. In signing this petition, we call upon President Schapiro and the Board of Trustees to adopt a Climate Action Plan that would ensure a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010, and a 20% reduction by 2015. The Plan would entail compiling an updated, comprehensive carbon emission inventory, laying out a framework and timeline to achieve our reduction targets, and hiring a Campus Sustainability Coordinator to facilitate the Climate Action Plan and all future sustainability projects.

Sincerely,

The undersigned. (in 2005 or 2006)

Background information:

• Williams College is responsible for emitting 34,700 tons of carbon dioxide per year, a quarter of Williamstown’s total emissions. This is approximately 11.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per person at Williams College.

• More than 37 colleges and universities have set an example by meeting or beating the Kyoto Protocol agreement for emissions reductions. For example, see the recent article The Greening of America's Campuses (New York Times, Jan 8 2006).

• Williamstown has already adopted a climate action plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10% percent by 2010. Williams College is a member of this community and an integral part of the town’s plan.

• Natural variability alone cannot account for the recent changes in global climate. Scientific models can explain climate changes in the last 50 years only by taking into account greenhouse gas emissions attributable to humans.

• Historical Temperature Variations

Frequently Asked Questions about the Climate Initiative

Signatures

We have finished collecting signatures -- well over a thousand people including those who signed on paper, by email, and on this page. Thank you for this impressive and significant show of support.

Signatures:

• Emily Russell-Roy
• Robin Stewart
• Justin Bates
• Keith McWhorter
• Marcus Duyzend
• Ashlee Martinez
• Carolyn Reuman
• Donald Mitchell
• Megan O'Malley
• Matt Britton
• Betsy Chang
• Alan Cordova
• Chris Ellis-Ferrara
• Alison Davies
• Aston Gonzalez
• Alex Tanton
• Nika Engberg
• Elise Leduc
• Alexis Saba
• Margaret Pigman
• Katherine Montgomery
• Katherine Majzoub
• Jason Ren
• Anne E. Smith
• Abby McBride
• Jonathan Dowse
• Jennifer Messier
• Benjamin Wood
• Ward Schaefer
• Sunmi Yang
• David Weimer
• Morgan Goodwin
• David Letzler
• Lisetta Shah
• Sam Sterling
• Anne Louise Ennis
• Kendell Newman
• Julia Sendor
• Reed Harrison
• Noah Smith-Drelich
• Carol Rosenberg
• Erin Chong
• Matt Simonson
• Becky Davies
• Emily Olsen
• Liz Gleason
• Caroline Plitt
• Elizabeth Atkinson
• Michael Gallagher
• Lucy Cox-Chapman
• Jay Cox-Chapman
• Elissa Brown
• Hannah Gray
• Alex Ambros
• Cary Bearn
• Brenna Baccaro
• Rachel Schneebaum
• David C Schwab
• Emily L Wasserman
• John Kling
• Chris Carrier
• Daniel Perez
• Carynne McIver
• Allison Seyferth
• Sara Beach
• Clara Hard
• Spike Friedman
• Merritt Edlind
• Natee Pitiwan
• YaWen Lu
• Hanjie Jessie Yu
• Anna Scholtz
• Will Wetzel
• Alejandro Acosta
• Rahul Bahl
• Rebecca Gordon
• Elizabeth Campbell
• Auyon Mukharji
• Nick Yates
• Sarah Martin
• Brendan Dougherty
• Randy Dorf
• Parker Shorey
• Zoe Fonseca
• Jacob King
• Nadia Moore
• Betsy Ribble
• Vickie Fernandez
• Jonathan Stone
• Emilie Voight
• Sean Barker
• David Rogawski
• Emily Brown
• An-Lo Yu
• Dave Kleinschmidt
• Josh Goldberg-Sussman
• Meghan Ryan
• John Chatlos
• Erin Blanchard
• Ben T. Brown
• Michael Biblowit
• Anna Weber
• Angela Doyle
• Sara Jablonski
• Alex Roth
• Shelby Kimmel
• Benjamin Howard
• Matt Wilka
• Amber LaFountain
• Ana Pacheco-Navarro
• Julia Brown
• Stephen Abbott
• Owen Westbrook
• Jamie Sweeney
• Christine Hunt
• Jason Kohn
• Stuart Jones
• Jessie Kerr
• Henry Burton
• Nicholas Colella
• Shannon Chiu
• Amanda Strogoff
• Anne C. Smith
• Tyler Auer
• Aaron Bloom
• Thomas Miller
• Allyson Holmes
• Emily Bonem
• Joey Lye
• Nick Anderson
• Jefferson Lin
• Robert Cooper
• Mack Brickley
• Neal Holtschulte
• Elise Henson
• Charles Soucy
• Avery Briggs
• Oliver Burton
• Eliot Crafton
• Jeremy Doernberger
• Alison Koppe
• Melanie Hobart
• Nora Morse
• Michelle Kurkul
• Elspeth Mitchell
• Susan Raich
• Kat Conaway
• Carrie Miller
• Emma Bene
• Ansel Bubel
• Whitney A. Leonard
• Kimberley Taylor
• Sarah Hill
• Erin Weekley
• Jared Oubre
• Kaitlin Dirrig
• Emily Peinert
• Rebecca Corwin
• Tseli Mohammed
• Patricia O'Reilly
• Elissa Hardy
• Maddie Jones
• Rick Redmond
• Jane Allen
• Elana Boehm
• Bevin Blaber
• Tomio Ueda
• Julia Behrman
• Adam McKay
• Joan Danver
• Crissy Haley
• Leah Joy Weintraub
• Robert Buesing
• Sara Kazanjian
• Martin Williams
• Katharine Josephson
• Baafour Otu-Boateng
• Emily Button
• Elissa Klein
• Elise Piazza
• Will McClain
• Alexandra Letvin
• Annie Denison
• Thomas Zimmerman
• Stephanie Hsiung
• Hannah Cho
• Caroline Toy
• Paaven Thaker
• Kathryn Fromson
• Ben Bodurian
• Tova Meyer
• Emily Bruce
• Daniel Fischler
• Alda Chan
• Hilary Gee
• Becca Gifford
• Rafael Frias
• Liz Kantack
• Ryan Dunfee