MiddShift Neutral
Way back in early November, MiddBlog reported sightings of "MiddShift" scrawled across black and white boards throughout the school. Now, it's finally coming together:
MiddShift is about leading the movement toward a carbon neutral future. What is carbon neutrality? It is the process of eliminating our contribution to global warming. ... We are challenging Middlebury to become carbon neutral by the year 2017. To do this, the college will undergo massive carbon emission reductions and efficiency projects. What we cannot reduce we will offset by investing in renewable energy projects.
With the tag line, "Let's Shift Into Neutral," this is yet another powerful environmental movement on the collegiate level. Middlebury really eats this stuff up. With a spring symposium and a lot of support, it would be momentus to have the college adopt such a plan to go carbon neutral by 2017. That said, there is a growing number of those discontent with the amount of attention the environment gets on campus. Other orgs and students with various other causes feel pushed out by the big environmental agenda. Sound a lot like Congress?
Event: Discussion of Carbon Neutrality
Date: Friday, Jan 12
Time: 4:30-6
Venue: Carol's Hungry Mind Cafe (in town next to Alpine Shop and around the corner from Ben Franklin's)
EDIT: MiddShift has got their act together with their web presence. Check out their main Segue site. The "It's Getting Hot in Here" Blog has picked it up too along with the Sierra Student Coalition.
Event: Discussion of Carbon Neutrality
Date: Friday, Jan 12
Time: 4:30-6
Venue: Carol's Hungry Mind Cafe (in town next to Alpine Shop and around the corner from Ben Franklin's)
EDIT: MiddShift has got their act together with their web presence. Check out their main Segue site. The "It's Getting Hot in Here" Blog has picked it up too along with the Sierra Student Coalition.
5 comments:
If you're turned off by the attention environmental issues gets, grab attention for another cause. But please don't forget that this is a problem we need to fix in order that the others do not grow yet worse. Every major campaign - poverty, disease, biodiversity, peace - is involved in climate change.
mary katherine
also, if we let climate change get out of control the other problems will be non-issues in the long run. it's definitely all-encompassing.
For the sake of argument:
Okay, so global warming is a pressing issue. But, what's the point of Middlebury going carbon neutral? We are a college of 2,400 people, a drop in the bucket when compared to a city or even a large, far-reaching company going carbon neutral.
True, we might be setting the example but really, the press we get out here in the middle of nowhere is abysmal.
Shouldn't our students be stopping global warming in China or India or something?
Thoughts?
as far as abysmal press, i have a great-uncle in mexico who for some reason gets the middlebury magazines (someone brings them into a place he hangs out). we get around, for some reason.
but anyhow, midd students don't really have time to stop global warming in china or india while they're physically at midd, but implementing carbon neutrality policies at the college is great experience and preparation for doing it on a larger scale. i mean, it's going to be relatively easy to get midd to agree to go carbon neutral, in the scheme of things, and if you have that on your resume people are a lot more likely to listen to you when you want to take on bigger projects. and we may be a drop in the bucket, but that's not a reason not to do it. in fact, there is no good reason not to go carbon neutral. drops in the bucket can add up.
Bjorn Lombord on TED
Lomborg argues that global warming should be placed at the bottom of the global priority list and why AIDS prevention at the top...
Worth a look, even if you disagree...
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