The Allegheny College
Climate Change Initiative (ACCCI)

Previous ACCCI events and news

June 2007: Allegheny College president Richard J. Cook selected to join the steering committee of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

President Cook was one of the first signatories of the commitment, a national challenge to colleges and universities to develop a comprehensive action plan to reduce their global-warming emissions. Two hundred and seventy-six institutions of higher education have thus far signed the commitment.   The chief governing body of the ACUPCC, the steering committee is responsible for providing guidance, policy and direction for the program.

April 21, 2007: Earth Day Service Activity ( Installation of compact fluorescent light bulbs ( CFLs) for residents in the Meadville, PA community)

More than 150 CFLs were installed in properties owned by area churches, the women’s shelter and the Crawford County Coalition on Housing Needs (CCCHN), including the Emergency Shelter, a transitional home, and subsidized apartments within the community. Each CFL installed uses only 20 watts of electricity (compared to 75 watts for a standard incandescent bulb) and burns eight times as long. The 150+ bulbs will save these organizations more than $5,280 and will reduce Meadville’s carbon dioxide emissions by more than 70,000 pounds!

April 14, 2007: Local Step It Up! rally

This nationwide rally in more 1,450 communities encouraged federal leaders to cut US carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. ACCCI joined congregations throughout Meadville in the local rally at Diamond Park. The rally was designed to maximize participation and minimize climate-impacts of transporting thousands of people to Washington DC to make their voices heard.

February 20, 2007: Who Gets to Cut the Ribbon: Is Democracy Bad for Climate Change?
A lecture by Felicity Barringer
Science reporter, The New York Times

How does democracy, which operates on short- and medium-scales, deal with long-term problems? Past issues have been complex (social security, the tax code), yet these issues have had payoffs that come within 1-2 Congressional sessions, 3-4 at the most. The politicians who did the work are still around to take credit for it. That isn’t true with climate change; the generation that deals with climate change gets the blame for dislocations and will receive little credit for keeping the world’s atmospheric CO2 concentration at 450 ppm.

February 6, 2007: The Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change
A lecture by Donald A. Brown
Program Director, Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change at the Penn State Rock Ethics Institute
Director, Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy (PCIEP)

Given the severity of impacts expected and the likelihood that disruptions in living conditions will occur for great numbers of people due climate change events, a number of concrete recommendations can be made on how governments should act. Humans have rights to life, liberty, and personal security that create duties in others to refrain from interference with these basic rights. It is our duty to prevent the neglect or violation of those rights. Climate change policy-making must also protect future generations. Climate change raises a number of particularly challenging ethical issues about how to fairly share the benefits and burdens of climate change options. The tools often employed to solve environmental problems, such as cost-benefit analysis, do not adequately deal with these issues because they ignore questions of just distribution.
http://rockethics.psu.edu/climate/edcc-whitepaper.pdf

February, 2007: ACCCI fundraiser "Local Goods for Local Energy Savings”

Locally made sweets from vendors at the Meadville Market House were sold at Allegheny College; all proceeds were used to buy compact fluorescent light bulbs to be distributed to low-income families in the Meadville area on Earth Day.  Approximately $500 was collected from sales and donations by student volunteers.

November 9, 2006: How we can win victories in the fight against global warming.
A lecture by Dan Becker
Director, Global Warming Program, The Sierra Club

News update!   In a 5-to-4 decision, on April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s argument that it had no legal authority to limit carbon dioxide released from new cars. In a ruling described as a landmark victory for environmental activists, it decided that the US EPA does have such authority.

Fall 2006: The Carbon Challenge.

Students, faculty, staff and community members pledged to reduce their personal carbon emissions through a variety of strategies, ranging from replacing incandescent bulbs by compact fluorescent bulbs; committing to walk, carpool, and take public transportation more frequently; and purchasing local foods; to insulating your home; buying energy star appliances; and transforming financial portfolios to be socially responsible. 

September 20-22, 2006: Public screenings of
"An Inconvenient Truth"
 Shafer Auditorium, Allegheny College

Former Vice-President Al Gore highlights scientific evidence of climate change and the imperative to act. This film was the 2007 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary.

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