City Universities Plan To One-Up The Mayor

Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC will be quite an undertaking, reducing carbon output by 30 percent by 2030. However the Universities of New York are planning to reach the Mayor's goals in only ten years. They are confident that institutions like CUNY, Columbia and NYU can work to reduce their carbon footprints on the city by 2017.

From WNYC:

NEW YORK, NY June 06, 2007 —Nine universities around the city, including NYU, Columbia and CUNY, have accepted the city's challenge of reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent in ten years, instead of the 23 years outlined in the Mayor's 2030 sustainability plans.

REPORTER: The mayor has already committed the city to meeting the accelerated timeline, and has urged other institutions to join in. Fordham University president, Reverend Joseph McShane, says schools can become more energy efficient even as they educate their students about climate change.

MCSHANE: In philosophy classes, in policy classes, in political science classes, we can engage them in conversations about the responsibility that we have as citizens and as sharers of the Earth, to make sure that the Earth is cherished and nurtured and passed on.

The centers of higher learning get that the problem of climate change is not only important, but needs to be dealt with urgently. There is no time like the present, so we need to get going and help do whatever we can to save the planet. One person cannot solve the problem alone, but if we all make a difference where we live, there might just be some hope.