ACUPCC Reporting System

Climate Action Plan for Austin College

Submitted on November 16, 2010; last updated on November 16, 2010

Climate Action Plan Details

Climate Action Plan Austin College Climate Action Plan
November 6, 2010
No information provided.
No information provided

Emissions Targets

Climate Neutrality Target
2020
If you have any qualifying statements with regard to the climate neutrality target date, please include them here, and/or if you have chosen "TBD" and not specified a neutrality date, please enter the reason and explain the process for establishing a target date in the future.

No information provided

Interim Milestone Emission-Reduction Target Target Date Baseline
10% reduction in Total Scopes 1, 2, 3 Emissions by 2012 relative to baseline emissions in 2010
20% reduction in Total Scopes 1, 2, 3 Emissions by 2013 relative to baseline emissions in 2010
30% reduction in Total Scopes 1, 2, 3 Emissions by 2014 relative to baseline emissions in 2010
100% reduction in Purchased Electricity Emissions by 2016 relative to baseline emissions in 2010
Nonstandard Emissions Targets
Please enter below any targets that do not fit into the above format.

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Narratives

Please describe your institution's greenhouse gas mitigation strategies.

The Austin College plan is based on reducing electricity and natural gas consumption 2% per year from 2010 through 2020, gradually shifting from 15% wind-generated electricity to 100% wind generated electricity, and offsetting remaining emissions.

Please describe your institution's plans to make sustainability a part of the curriculum for all students.

At least 15 Austin College courses address climate change issues. These courses have a collective annual enrollment of some 500 students, more than one third of our student population. In addition to curricular offerings we create offer educational experiences through our service event, Greenserve, through dorm energy saving competitions, through an annual green pledge campaign, and through various other activities of Austin College Thinking Green, our campus sustainability initiative.

Please describe your institution's plans to expand research efforts toward the achievement of climate neutrality.

Current Austin College research projects related to climate change and carbon neutrality include research at the Austin College weather station on Earth surface energy balance, experimental prairie restoration at the Sneed Prairie, and study of novel photo-sensitive molecules for capturing solar energy. Austin College’s Richardson Endowment funds faculty research. Faculty wishing to expand research into climate neutrality and related issues are encouraged to apply for these funds.

Please describe your institution's plans to expand community outreach efforts toward the achievement of climate neutrality.

Austin College’s community outreach efforts have four components: a seminar series primarily aimed at the Austin College campus community; an annual environmental service day, Greenserve; annual energy savings competitions in residence halls, and a planned series of interactive forums where a panel of college faculty attempt to answer audience members’ questions regarding climate issues.

The latter will be initiated during the 2010-11 school year, initially on campus and then in the surrounding community. We anticipate that such a forum would be of interest to a variety of local groups because skepticism regarding climate change is widespread in this area. We think that a “stump the chumps” format would be more engaging than more formal presentations and would therefore have more chance of achieving educational goals.