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commit</title></head><body>
<div>Dear all,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I invite you to sign a letter to President Hockfield that
outlines a vision for an MIT greenhouse gas reduction strategy.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We will be collecting signatures through<b> Monday January 22 at
2 PM.</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We are on a short timeline because we understand there is talk
right now in the President's office about a GHG strategy and we want
to get our voices into the conversation asap. We will also be engaging
students, faculty, and staff more widely in the longer term.</div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div><font size="+2" color="#FF0000"><b>If you are a student, to view
and sign the letter, go to:
http://www.petitiononline.com/ghgzero/petition.html</b></font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font size="+2" color="#FF0000"><b>If you are faculty or staff,
go to:</b></font></div>
<div><font
size="+2"><b>http://www.petitiononline.com/facstaff/petition.html</b></font
></div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div>(It's not really a petition, but this just makes it easy on our
end to manage the signature process)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div>Thanks!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Kate Parrot</div>
<div>PhD, Sloan</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Text of letter:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">January 22,
2007</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Dear President
Hockfield,<br>
<br>
We are writing to ask you to implement an MIT greenhouse gas emissions
reduction commitment and a community-wide Carbon Neutral
Challenge.<br>
<br>
We believe that it is time for MIT to publicly commit to a medium-term
goal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and adopt a long-term
vision of carbon neutrality. We belong to the next generation that
will inherit the legacy of global warming, and we ask you to act now.
We offer several justifications for our request, and we propose a
strategy that we believe achieves significant GHG reductions,
addresses financial risk and drives long-term energy cost savings,
while empowering and mobilizing the MIT community.</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><b>Justifications
for an MIT Climate Commitment</b></font><br>
</div>
<ul>
<li><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><b>We are already
seeing the effects of climate change.</b> Abnormally warm weather,
evidence about rapidly melting glaciers, and sea level rise
suggest that global climate change is already happening. The MIT
campus and City of Cambridge sit roughly 10 feet above sea level, well
below predictions of sea level rise in the coming decades. This stark
fact should inspire us to do our part to mitigate the effects of
climate change.
<li><b>Walking the Talk:</b> The mission of the MIT Energy Initiative
includes "enhancing campus operations" and incorporates a
"Walking the Talk" component. Walking the talk on energy policy and
practice for the 21st century is a powerful way to communicate MIT's
energy leadership to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the general
public. Inaction invites disappointment, charges of hypocrisy, and
missed opportunities for MIT to demonstrate our capacity for bold and
timely action.
<li><b>MIT's Culture:</b> MIT's talented community harbors a
tremendous passion for working to reduce our carbon footprint. We love
to crack tough problems, and would relish the opportunity to tackle
one of the biggest challenges our generation faces. Establishing
reduction goals will catalyze community action.
<li><b>Global Leadership:</b> A number of universities, including
Yale, Cornell, University of California, and Tufts have already made
greenhouse gas reduction commitments and embarked on aggressive
reduction campaigns. We want to be proud to say that our
university is one of the leading institutions addressing the challenge
of global warming.
<li><b>Financial:</b> Economic risks from high-carbon intensity
already exist and will continue to grow. Energy prices are volatile
and appear likely to increase as global demand for energy increases.
Investing in GHG reductions now will pay large dividends in reduced
risk exposure to rising fossil fuel prices. Most GHG reduction
approaches focus on energy efficiency and conservation, thus offering
MIT significant long-term energy cost savings opportunities.
<li><b>Your own words inspire this letter:</b></font></ul>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><font face="Times New Roman" size="-3"
color="#000000"><i>The<u> power of leading by example</u> is important
to MIT and for facilitating changeŠWhile the Energy Initiative
itself and the Energy Research Council is envisioned primarily as
research and education focused,<u> I very much hope that we will also
lead by example and develop programs, adopt technologies, and innovate
approaches that model sustainable energy practices on our
campus</u>.</i></font>
<blockquote><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">-
President<b> Susan Hockfield</b>, November 14,
2005</font></blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br>
<b>MIT Strategy for Meeting the Global Climate
Challenge</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">We ask you to
consider a two-part strategy for addressing GHG emissions: a
floor-level commitment to emissions reduction and a Carbon Neutral
Challenge to the MIT community.</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br>
<b>1) Floor-level commitment to GHG emissions
reductions</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">An MIT<i> Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Initiative</i> White Paper, prepared by the
Environmental Programs Office and the Department of Facilities, and
submitted to the MIT Energy Research Council in 2006, proposed a
reasonable GHG commitment of<b> 1990 emissions by 2015 and 10% below
1990 emissions by 2020</b>. We support this target.<br>
<br>
This level of commitment will place the Institute on a responsible
path, one that is roughly on par with the Kyoto Protocol and the
commitments of other major universities and corporations. Although
this goal will require hard work, the Energy Research Council White
Paper indicates that sufficient reductions can be made through energy
conservation, cogeneration expansion, energy efficient new
construction, and renewable power investments. Most of these efforts
could be revenue-positive investments, according to the White
Paper.</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br>
<b>2) Carbon Neutral Challenge</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">We propose that you
issue to the MIT community a Carbon Neutral Challenge, which would
challenge institutional stakeholders to achieve carbon neutrality as
quickly as possible. No binding dates would be set for a carbon
neutral campus, but we would revisit the Challenge every five years to
evaluate our progress and adjust our strategy to achieve a long-term
vision of carbon neutrality.<br>
<br>
A Carbon Neutral Challenge will help transform the MIT campus into a
living laboratory for how to address one of the most important
challenges of the 21st century. The Challenge would stimulate the MIT
community to employ our talent, passion, and technical knowledge to
far surpass the responsible floor-level commitment you have set out in
the first phase of the MIT GHG strategy.<br>
<br>
Our experience with the student-led MIT Generator (</font><font
face="Times New Roman"
color="#0000FF"><u>http://sustainability.mit.edu/Generator</u></font><font
face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">) demonstrates that students,
faculty, and staff are eager to collaborate to realize energy savings
on campus. The Carbon Neutral Challenge would catalyze even more
exciting campus-based educational, research, and practice
opportunities. Falling short of the high aspiration of carbon
neutrality will be viewed as a noble effort, not as a failure. If and
when we do achieve this high-level, long-term vision, it will be a
momentous accomplishment setting international precedent and
demonstrating MIT's brilliance, ingenuity, and global
leadership.</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><b>Mechanisms for
achieving GHG emissions reductions<br>
</b><i>A. Harness and Expand Existing Efforts</i></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Both the floor goal
and the challenge goal could be supported by and integrated into the
Energy Initiative, the student-led MIT Generator, and a significant
funding mechanism, such as an MIT Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan
Fund. A similar funding mechanism at Harvard, the $12 million dollar
Harvard Green Campus Loan Fund has achieved a stunning 28% return on
investment (ROI) for its collective projects.</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br>
<i>B. Dialogue-to-Action</i></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The floor goal and
the carbon neutral challenge and the mechanisms supporting both could
be developed in a Town Hall dialogue process this Spring with
administrators, students, faculty, and staff, and be ready to announce
by Earth Day this year, April 26th.</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
<b>The Vision<br>
</b>The combination of a pragmatic floor-level commitment and an MIT
Carbon Neutral Challenge would transform MIT into a living laboratory
for energy policy and action in the 21st century-a community-wide
adventure into learning at the frontier of teamwork and innovation. We
would be proud to belong to an institution of higher education with
such dedication to the global climate change problem, and such a bold
and exciting vision for addressing it.<br>
<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Concerned MIT Students and Student Organizations<br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="-3">cc: L. Rafael Reif, MIT Provost<br>
Phillip Clay, MIT Chancellor<br>
Sherwin Greenblatt, Interim Executive Vice President<br>
Terry Stone, Incoming Executive Vice President<br>
Ernest Moniz, Chair, Energy Council</font></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="-3" color="#000000">Robert
Armstrong, Chair, Energy Council<br>
Leon Glicksman, Chair, Energy Council Walk the Talk Task
Force</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="-3" color="#000000">Angela
Belcher, Chair, Energy Council Education Task Force<br>
Kirk Kolenbrander, VP for Institute Affairs and Secretary of the MIT
Corporation</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div><br>
Kate W. Parrot<br>
PhD Candidate<br>
Organization Studies Group<br>
MIT Sloan School of Management<br>
<br>
Cell (main #): 857-523-8234<br>
Home: 617-623-3267<br>
Email: kparrot@mit.edu<br>
Skype: kateparrot<br>
</div>
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