A Mighty (Green) Fortress

According to Chips, the student newspaper of Luther College in Iowa, Luther College President Richard Torgerson has joined a new Reformation--he is one of the first College presidents to sign a pledge to become a carbon-neutral institution.

“In the end, of course, it’s important that the president has this commitment,” said [Luther College religion professon Jim] Martin-Schramm. “But the only way this commitment will bear fruit is if more of us, or all of us, also make this commitment — make this a priority and recognize this as a genuine moral challenge that requires investment of time, resources and willingness to change how we do things.”

According to the article, Luther will conduct a comprehensive inventory of its carbon emissions and develop a plan to completely eliminate them. Luther will also work to integrate sustainability into its curriculum.

So far no word on whether the plan will be nailed to a door.

IREJN is Connecticut's Interfaith Power and Light. Visit us at www.irejn.org.

Companies Endorse Path To Sustainability

The Taipei Times reported,

Nearly 100 companies followed a meeting at Columbia University by endorsing a formal statement to fight for clean energy and against climate change caused by people and businesses. The companies are members of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change, formed in 2004 to explore issues critical to shaping public and industry policy on climate change.
The statement by the international business community seeks to lay out a framework for global action to mitigate the impact of human-made climate change without adversely affecting energy and economic growth, according to Sachs, who also spoke at the UN on Friday.
The business leaders hoped that a permanent plan could be in place by 2012.
"Climate change is an urgent problem that requires global action ... in a time frame that minimizes the risk of serious human impact on the Earth's natural systems," the joint statement said.
The document also calls on governments to set scientifically informed targets for reduced global emissions and concentrations of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases and to take immediate action in pursuit of those targets.

Visit previous post on the report, which includes a link to the full text.

IREJN is Connecticut's Interfaith Power and Light. Visit us at www.irejn.org.