President Brody announces landmark Climate Policy for Johns Hopkins

[Read Brody's letter here]

NEWS & EVENTS:

July 2007:

• July 24th: Press announcements distributed to larger media outlets.
• July 23rd: Hopkins newspapers publish articles on new climate policy.
• July 23rd: President Brody delivers official letter on climate change policy.

May 2007:

• JHU administration decides it will adopt a new climate policy.
• JHU Sustainability Committee delivers climate recommendations to President Brody.
• HEAT delivers its final letters to President Brody and the Deans.

April 2007:

• HEAT proposes climate focus for quarterly meeting of JHU Sustainability Committee.
• HEAT representatives meet with university leadership.
• HEAT Rally event attracts hundreds of students.
• Student Council approves HEAT letter of resolution.

March 2007:

• HEAT coalition grows to over 2500 students and 20 student groups.
• HEAT collects hundreds of photo petitions to deliver to university leaders.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hopkins Energy Action Team (HEAT) is a broad coalition of 24 student groups at Johns Hopkins, comprising over 2600 undergraduate and graduate students, committed to making our university a leader in fighting global warming and building a clean energy economy.

An immense and ever-growing body of scientific evidence concludes that over-reliance on fossil fuels is causing the planet to warm at dangerous rates. The world's top scientists tell us that if we are to avoid the risk of future climate disasters, developed countries must immediately halt the growth of their global warming pollution. Reversing global warming will be a defining challenge of the 21st century. Addressing this threat successfully will mean transforming our economy, our institutions, our daily lives -- and doing so within a generation.

We believe this challenge calls for the kind of innovative vision and aggressive leadership that Johns Hopkins has demonstrated over the past century. We need Johns Hopkins to become an effective model for achieving climate neutrality by taking the lead on cutting-edge research and the development of new strategies, systems, behaviors, and technologies that will speed the path to climate neutrality across all society's sectors -- catalyzing investment and driving the development of new markets.

Leading society to reverse human-induced global warming is a task that fits squarely into the educational, research, and public service missions of Johns Hopkins. As a university that contributes so much to the world of science, technology, and public service, we feel there is great opportunity to leverage our institutional capacities to address this issue and set a prominent example of responsible energy use.

Pursuing climate neutrality can invigorate and unite our campus behind a common purpose by tapping the optimism and can-do spirit embedded in our university's history. We believe that in rising to this challenge, our generation can discover new meaning in our education and prepare ourselves for the challenges we face in the 21st century.