A letter in response to Kevin Lugo’s article on sustainability

By President Janet Morgan Riggs

Dear students,

I am writing in response to Kevin Lugo’s article on sustainability at Gettysburg College.  Student support of the College’s sustainability efforts is essential to our success in reducing the College’s carbon footprint. Kevin mentions some of the most substantive accomplishments to date, but achieving true carbon neutrality will require a sustained campus-wide effort over many years.

Kevin’s report on the Sustainability Common Hour on April 15 suggests that we adopt a well-coordinated and innovative approach to achieve a more sustainable community. I applaud and support the cooperative approach adopted by the student organizations that participated, their commitment, and their creativity.

I think the suggestions that Kevin puts forward in his article are all worth considering. The promotion of the appreciation and use of locally grown food is a natural for a community located in one of the nation’s most productive fruit belts. The proposal to create a sustainability council with representatives from all of our community¹s environmentally conscious organizations would provide the framework for planning and implementing joint sustainability initiatives.

The College is making steady progress toward carbon neutrality in 2032, the 200th anniversary of Gettysburg College. By 2015, our goal is to reduce our 2007 emissions by 25 percent. In the short term we are focusing efforts on reducing energy consumption with policy changes, education about the impact of individual changes in behavior, exploration of the replacement of our older heating and lighting systems with new technologies, and the provision of more energy-efficient travel alternatives for our community.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Sustainability Common Hour. Perhaps we should consider making this an annual event to track our progress and brainstorm new ideas.

Sincerely,
Janet Morgan Riggs