First it was global warming, then to be more accurate, climate change. Change sounds too neutral and linear, so I’m using the more accurate term climate disruption.
The following compendium was initially developed for the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) sustainability effort in 2010 and is being updated as relevant information becomes available.
I do want to highlight this report from the Economist’s Investigative Unit The Cost of Inaction. We keep hearing more about the cost to societies from inaction.
- University of Alaska Fairbanks
- Other UA Campuses
- Other Universities and Colleges
- Community – Interior Alaska
- Alaska Statewide
- United States (National)
- International
UAF Sustainability Resources
- UAF Sustainability webpage
- Sustainability Report Card
- Sustainability Report Card Survey
- RISE Board
- Sustainability Master Plan
UAF Sustainability Resources
At UAF
- Administration
- Climate Change & Energy
- Food & Recycling
- Green Building
- Student Involvement
- Transportation
- Endowment Transparency
- Investment Priorities
- Shareholder Engagement
- Sustainability template from College Sustainability Report Card
The above list, in this editor’s view, is missing a couple of important components: Education, Community Engagement-Collaboration
Reports
- UAF NRM430 class Spring 2008 Composite Sustainability Plan
- Chancellor’s Sustainability Transition Task Force Report – July 2008
- Facilities Services Campus Sustainability Report draft Sept. 2007
- UAF-Sustainability-Task-Force Report April 1, 2009
- FY11 Approved Capital Budget Development Guidelines
- FY11-Operating Budget Development Guidelines
- UAF Circulation and Parking Plan Oct. 2003
- UAF Comprehensive Master Plan May 13, 2010 – approved by Board of Regents June 3, 2010.
- UAF Capital Improvement Plan 2010-2015
- UAF Utilities Study 2006, Appendix A, Appendices B-D
- GIS map analysis of University employees and students residences to demonstrate locations needed for improved mass transit service, initiated and coordinated by Gary Newman
Presentations
- Sustainable Energy by Dr. Ron Johnson
- Concepts and strategies to address sustainability in a changing world Dr. Terry Chapin – May 2009 presentation
In the News
- Fairbanks Daily Newsminer on ASUAF Sustainability Feb. 10, 2010
- Local Food Movement – by Deirdre Helfferich School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences
Groups/Departments
in no particular order
- ASUAF Recycling
- Alaska Center for Energy and Power – research and outreach, also coordinates the annual Rural Energy Conference and makes the presentations publicly available: 2010 presentations
- UAF Dining Services –
- UAF Facilities Services – website missing a lot of potential sustainability connections to activities in transportation, greenhouses, buildings, etc.
- Utilities website – shows active power supply
- Cooperative Extension Services includes
- UAF Master Plan Committee – 2010 plan includes sustainability goals
- Chancellor’s Sustainability Transition Task Force website
- KUAC – statewide university hosted radio and TV
- KSUA – student run radio
- Natural Resource Management Sustainability PhD proposal approved Feb. 2008 and implemented
Other UA Campuses
- University of Alaska Fairbanks – Bristol Bay campus – ENVI F293 Sustainable Energy and other related classes taught by Dr. Tomas Marsik, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Energy
- UAF Rural Campuses – Master Plans
- University of Alaska Anchorage
- UAA Campus Facilities Master Plan 2013 and website
- ISER – Institute of Social and Economic Change has a number of reports on sustainability and climate change, such as Climate Change Impacts on Infrastructure in Alaska
- University of Alaska Southeast
- The Faculty Senate used to sponsor a webpage on sustainability, but no longer.
Universities and Colleges
- Talloires Declaration – Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future 10 Point Action Plan
- American College Presidents’ Climate Commitment – developed by secondnature.org
- College Sustainability Report Card
- Rocky Mountain Institute Accelerating Campus Climate Initiatives – a comprehensive guide to ‘getting there’.
- AASHE – Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
- STARS – Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System
- Indiana University Task Force on Campus Sustainability (example of another college’s sustainability report)
Community – Interior Alaska
Fairbanks North Star Borough
- Solid Waste Management
- Recycling Commission
- Recycling Task Force Report 2008
- Interior Alaska Climate Change Task Force report 2010 – using the ICLEI model.
- Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation Report on the Cost of Energy Plan
Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
- Focused on facilities related energy efficiency improvements. Recycling is local school driven. No apparent organizational sustainability policy or plan.
Other
- Cold Climate Housing Research Center – energy technology testing and education
- Interior Alaska Greenstar – Recycling in the Fairbanks area.
- Fairbanks Rescue Mission Recycling Program
- Tanana Chiefs Conference – Interior Regional Energy Plan Dec. 2009, in conjunction with ACEP
- Golden Valley Electric Association
- Energy Sense Program
- Sustainable Natural Alternative Program
- Green Power Advisory Committee and a presentation about it. <>Eva Creek Wind Project presentations – 24 mw renewable energy near Healy – now operational
- Community Sustained Agriculture in interior Alaska, such as Calypso Farms, Rosie Creek Farms, Arctic Roots Farm – seek to directly connect growers and consumers.
- Fairbanks Coop Market – endeavoring to promote health and sustainability by providing natural foods and products, promoting local suppliers, and offering consumer education in an open community center environment.
- Conference on Green Infrastructure in Interior Alaska in March 2008 – Bob Henzey at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife office in Fairbanks could provide you presentations from this great conference. 907-456-0323
- City of Homer Climate Change Action Plan
Alaska Statewide
State of Alaska
Energy Policy
- HB 306 – Statewide Energy Policy 2010, now law.
- SB 220 – Alaska Sustainable Energy Act June 2010
- Alaska Regional Integrated Resource Plan Study – RIRP Feb. 2010
- Alaska Energy Authority – numerous energy programs and project funding
- Alaska Housing Finance Corporation – now includes energy efficiency considerations and operates the weatherization and energy rating programs.
Climate Change
- House Concurrent Resolution 56 (1990) – requesting the State of Alaska Administration to investigate means to mitigate climate change
- as passed 1990 and with
- background report by Gary Newman
- Governor’s Subcabinet Committee on Climate Change – documents from a nearly two year group interagency, intergovernmental effort, chaired by Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Larry Hartig. My observation is that it was a grand effort with no follow-through in policy.
- New Yorker article on climate change expert NASA scientist James Hansen
- Climate Action Leadership Team Report. – Governor Walker was lobbied hard by young folks to promote a Climate change Effort in 2017. What came out of it was the Climate Action Leadership Team and a report – detailed here. The Governor’s webpage will probably be taken down by the Dunleavy Administration, as they don’t believe in any need to address climate change. UPDATE: Dec. 3, 2018. On the first day of the Dunleavy Administration, the report was removed. Similar things happened with the first days of the Trump Administration on climate change.
Non-governmental organizations
- REAP – Alaska Renewable Energy Project – excellent website, kept up to date, has social networking links for Facebook and Twitter.
- REEL in Alaska Report 2010 – “How to meet end-use electricity needs in the Railbelt region in 2025, using half the electricity used in 2000.”
- Information Insights report to the Cold Climate Housing Research Center
United States (National)
Governmental organizations
Climate Change Reports
- The 4th U.S. Climate Assessment Vol. II in Nov. 2018, required by Congress, begins to evaluate the economic costs of doing nothing. It’s dire. In case the Trump Administration purges or hides it, here’s an archived copy.
- The 4th Report of the National Climate Assessment Research Board Vol. I in Nov. 2017 continues to demonstrate the science, environmental costs and risks of climate change.
- 3rd report of the National Climate Assessment Research Board in May 2014 continues to confirm the direction and consequences of climate disruption.
- U.S. Climate Change Scientific Assessment – A Report of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the National Scientific and Technology Council – May 2008
- Congressional Budget Office Study The Economics of Climate Change: A Primer
- Supreme Court decision on EPA greenhouse gas regulation
- EPA climate change website
- EPA Energy Star
Legislation
- House of Representatives Energy Policy – H.R.2454 – American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009 (ACES) – introduced 6/26/2009 (Senate not approved) and Bill Summary
- Kerry Lieberman Energy Bill S.1733 – introduced 5/2010
- Snowe-Collins Energy Plan (not yet introduced)
- Bingaman American Clean Energy Act S.1462 – introduced 7/16/2009
Non-governmental organizations
– a smattering
- U.S. Green Building Council
- ACEEE – American Council for An Energy Efficient Economy
- Greenstar Inc
- Energy Efficient Building Association
- BOMA International (Building Owners and Managers Association International) has green building information
- Rocky Mountain Institute
International
Climate Change
- U.N World Commission on Environment and Development – Brundtland Report
- The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change 2006
- Part 1 – Climate Change – our approach
- Part 2 – Impacts of Climate Change on Growth and Development
- Part 3 – The Economics of Stabilisation
- Part 4 – Policy Responses for Mitigation
- Part 5 – Policy Responses for Adaptation
- Part 6 – International Collective Action
- WMO-Climate_Statement_2018 (World Meteorological Organization)
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the largest group of scientists doing interdisciplinary work to determine the facts about climate change. They’ve a number of reports, the most recent a Special Report in Oct. 2018 due to the need for urgent change. Also Synthesis Report 2007 and the Working Group 2014 report on mitigation
- Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air – book, Part 1
- Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air – book, Part 2