Climate Action Plan - ACUPCC Reports - Climate Commitment

The institution has also taken steps to solidify sustainability as a strategic priorityfor the campus through a series of administrative actions including:• Developing the Board of Regents Policy, Sustainability and EnergyEfficiency, in 2004(http://www1.umn.edu/regents/policies/administrative/Sustain_Energy_Efficiency.pdf).• Joining the Chicago Climate Exchange, a voluntary and legally bindingcap and trade exchange for encouraging market based solutions to reducegreenhouse gas emissions (http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/).• Forming the Institute on the Environment, a center for discoveringsolutions to the planet’s biggest environmental problems through newapproaches (http://environment.umn.edu/index.html).• Creating sustainability goals, outcomes, and measures for the Universityof Minnesota system(http://www.uservices.umn.edu/sustainableU/UM_Systemwide_Sustainability_Final_Report.pdf).The ACUPCC is a natural extension of and complement to these other efforts.Combined, these initiatives and many others have contributed to the Universitybeing a national leader in sustainability. In fact, the University of MinnesotaTwin Cities was among the first large research institutions to become a signatoryto the ACUPCC and it was the first Big 10 institution to do so. Since theUniversity signed the commitment, two other Big 10 schools have joined – OhioState University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – and otherBig 10 institutions have engaged in similar efforts to reduce their emissions.In addition, joining the ACUPCC aligns with similar, recent initiatives by theState of Minnesota. In 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty signed into law the NextGeneration Energy Act, which establishes a goal of reducing greenhouse gasemissions in the state to 80% of 2005 levels by 2050. The Act also established agoal of achieving annual energy savings equal to 1.5% of annual retail sales ofelectricity and natural gas. That same year, the legislature and governorestablished that utilities across the state had to derive a certain amount of theirpower from renewable sources. Xcel Energy, provider of electricity to theUniversity of Minnesota, has to obtain 30% of their power from renewableresources by 2020. Over the last decade the legislature and governor have alsoenacted rigorous building energy efficiency standards for all facilities constructedor undergoing substantial renovation using state bonding money(http://www.mn2030.umn.edu/). Many University capital construction projectsare subject to these standards.As the land grant institution of Minnesota, the University’s participation inACUPCC will create tangible benefits to the taxpayers and residents of the State.The University can take a lead role for local businesses and organizations inmodeling how to reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.Through a number of strategies for achieving climate neutrality the Universitywill become even more energy efficient and it will identify cost effectivetechnologies for reducing emissions. This will enable the institution to use itsThis document is intended to be viewed online.Please think about the environment before printing.University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesClimate Action Plan v. 1.0 ‐ Page 2 of 24