Janetos to Chair University’s Climate Action Plan Task Force
Anthony Janetos, the Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, has been chosen to chair Boston University’s Climate Action Plan Task Force.
The announcement of Prof. Janetos’ appointment to lead this year-long effort was made in a university-wide email from President Robert A. Brown on October 31. President Brown’s email identified the 18 faculty, students, and staff who will serve on the Task Force and outlined his goals for this effort, calling for the development of a plan to include not only operational measures to reduce the University’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy use but also methods for incorporating research and educational components in line with the University’s mission and strategic plan. President Brown’s specific charge to the Task Force as presented in his email to the BU community includes:
1. Propose ways to operationally mitigate the University’s impact on global warming by decreasing our direct emissions and lowering our energy use, as well as ways we should prepare our campuses for the impacts of climate change.
2. Make recommendations for our role in research—both disciplinary and interdisciplinary—that are relevant to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, lowering energy demand, and developing resilient cities and campuses.
3. Make recommendations for educational programs that prepare all our students, but especially our undergraduates, to face the challenges of climate change as educated citizens of the world.
4. Embed these recommendations in the context of analysis of their medium- and long-term financial implications to the University.
5. Engage the entire Boston University community of faculty, staff, and students in the preparation of the Climate Action Plan and reach out to other institutions and the City of Boston to explore shared solutions that will benefit the broader community.
“I am very excited to get working on the University’s Climate Action Plan with my colleagues,” said Prof. Janetos. “We will have a transparent process, with opportunities for input and discussion from all corners of the University community. I hope that everyone will take the opportunity to learn what we are doing, and offer their views.”
The announcement follows President Brown’s September report on the Board of Trustees’ recommendations based on the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ACSRI) proposal for action on fossil fuel investments and climate change. In that report, the Board of Trustees recommended, in part, the development of a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to be incorporated into the University’s Strategic Plan, outlining specific near, intermediate, and long-term goals for increasing: renewable energy consumption; energy efficiency and conservation; educational opportunities for students and the broader University community to better understand climate change; interdisciplinary coordination on climate change research; and adaptive efforts to prepare for the physical impacts of climate change on the University.
The Task Force’s 18 members, which includes members of the Boston University faculty, staff, and student body, are listed below.
Sean Attri, Graduate Student, Questrom School of Business
Mun Pan Aung, Graduate Student, School of Public Health
Bridget Baker, Undergraduate Student, College of Arts & Sciences
Dennis Carlberg, Director of Sustainability
Madhu Dutta-Koehler, Associate Professor of the Practice and Program Coordinator, City Planning and Urban Affairs, Metropolitan College
Elijah Ercolino, Director of Building Automation
Peter Fox-Penner, Director, Institute for Sustainable Energy, and Professor of the Practice, Questrom School of Business
Michael Gevelber, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Lucy Hutyra, Associate Professor, Department of Earth & Environment, College of Arts & Sciences
Tony Janetos, Chair, Pardee Professor of Earth & Environment, College of Arts & Sciences, and Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future
Robert Kaufmann, Professor of Earth & Environment, College of Arts & Sciences
Jonathan Levy, Professor, Environmental Health, School of Public Health
Thomas Little, Associate Dean of Educational Initiatives, and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Jennifer Luebke, Associate Professor, Anatomy & Neurobiology, and Faculty Council Representative, School of Medicine
Nathan Phillips, Professor, Department of Earth & Environment, College of Arts & Sciences
Peter Smokowski, Vice President, Auxiliary Services
Pamela Templer, Associate Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Benjamin Thompson, Graduate Student, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences