By Madeline Fuerstenberg, for The Spectator
UW-Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt has ordered the creation of a new Sustainability and Climate Action Task Force, as part of the university’s efforts to become carbon neutral by 2050.
In an email sent to faculty, staff and students last week, Schmidt set out the goals of the task force and encouraged members of the UW-EC campus community to join it.
“Our core university values include ‘stewardship and sustainability’,” Schmidt wrote. “While we have undertaken numerous sustainability activities over the years, we now have an opportunity to create a more defined plan to incorporate stewardship, sustainability and resiliency into all facets of campus life.”
Schmidt said the task force will meet throughout the current semester. Its goal, he wrote, will be to develop “specific, actionable recommendations for sustainability that can be incorporated into our 2025 University and academic plans, as well as the Campus Facilities Master Plan.”
The report should be completed and submitted by May 15, Schmidt wrote.
The chancellor told The Spectator that the work completed by the task force would be funneled into the university’s broader strategic plan. This would include an assessment of where the university is at now in terms of sustainability and suggestions as to how the university could reach its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.
To read the remainder of The Spectator story, click here.
Note: Madeline Fuerstenberg is in her second semester as editor-in-chief of The Spectator. She is also the CVPost’s community reporter. She took the home page photo that accompanies this article.