Call On Penn State to Commit to Zero Carbon Emissions!

Dear Penn Staters and citizens,

We ask you to join us in calling on Penn State’s top administrators to clearly and firmly address human-caused climate change. This petition continues the work of the "Getting to Zero" carbon emissions conference, held on April 11, 2014. Thus far, the call from that conference has received little attention. However, with the rollout of the Clean Power Plan, Pope Francis urging the world to act, and the pending Paris climate summit, we believe that the time for Penn State to act is now.

The next few years are crucial in crafting an effective response, and Penn State can help transform this from a partisan, controversial topic into one where we all work together to find solutions.

We will deliver this petition and letter to President Barron, Provost Jones, and Senior Vice President of Finance and Business David Gray on December 1st, 2015.

Please sign our petition to urge the administration to do the following:

  • Create a task force to lead the community though the process of setting and implementing an appropriate “Getting to Zero” plan to be achieved by 2050 at the latest.
  • Communicate its commitment to addressing anthropogenic climate change publicly, ideally through Penn State’s next Strategic Plan.
  • Identify and revise policies that currently limit efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through its operations, purchasing, and investments and should integrate sustainability throughout its curriculum and culture.



If you are a Penn Stater, please sign with the year you graduated and/or the position you hold. But as Penn State is a public land grant university, we hope that all concerned citizens will sign.


Dear Penn Staters and all citizens,


We ask you to join us in calling on Penn State’s top administrators to clearly and firmly address human-caused climate change. This petition continues the work of the "Getting to Zero" carbon emissions conference, held on April 11, 2014. Thus far, the call from that conference has received little attention. However, with the rollout of the Clean Power Plan, Pope Francis urging the world to act, and the pending Paris climate summit, we believe that the time for Penn State to act is now.


The next few years are crucial in crafting an effective response, and Penn State can help transform this from a partisan, controversial topic into one where we all work together to find solutions.


We will deliver this petition and letter to President Barron, Provost Jones, and Senior Vice President of Finance and Business David Gray on December 1st, 2015.


Please sign our petition. If you are a Penn Stater, please sign with the year you graduated and/or the position you hold. But as Penn State is a public land grant university, we hope that all concerned citizens will sign.


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Dear President Barron, Provost Jones, and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gray:


We the undersigned recognize that human beings are disrupting the climate. As members of the most affluent and educated communities in history and among the most responsible for climate change, we recognize that we are called to protect the weakest among us, our descendants, and the biotic community. As a research university serving the commonwealth through its land grant mission, we are called to lead by example, demonstrating to our students, alumni, and the broader community how we can immediately and forcefully respond to this challenge.


Today, we renew a call sent to you by the 2014 Penn State "Getting to Zero" conference attendees. We urge the administration to do the following:



  • President Barron should immediately create a task force to lead the community though the process of setting and implementing an appropriate “Getting to Zero” plan to be achieved by 2050 at the latest.

  • Penn State’s administration should communicate its commitment to addressing anthropogenic climate change publicly, ideally through Penn State’s next Strategic Plan.

  • Penn State’s administration should identify and revise policies that currently limit efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through its operations, purchasing, and investments and should integrate sustainability throughout its curriculum and culture.


Accelerating climate-related impacts make the urgency of this call very clear. We know that you understand the overwhelming evidence for anthropogenic climate change. Now is the time to stand together, recognize our moral responsibility, and use every tool among our vast resources to address the consequences. The possibilities for our entire community—students, staff, faculty, and the communities of our Commonwealth, nation and the world—are limited only by our hearts and imaginations.


We ask you to make the tough choices required of leadership, and we are ready to support you in implementing those decisions.


Respectfully, 


Jonathan Abel
Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Japanese


Gabeba Baderoon
Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and African Studies 


Mark Ballora
Associate Professor of Music Technology 


Paul Barsom
Associate Professor of Music 


Susannah Heyer Barsom
Sustainability Institute


Michael Bérubé
Director
Institute for the Arts and Humanities 


James Gordon Brasseur
Emeritus and Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering 


Jonathan Brockopp
Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies 


Elaine J Brzycki
Manager, Project Development
WPSU Penn State 


Peter Buckland

Sustainability Institute 


Darlene Clark
Senior Lecturer in Nursing
Women's Leadership Initiative Faculty Mentor 


Jamison E. Colburn
Professor of Law & Joseph H. Goldstein Faculty Scholar 


Stephen R. Couch
Professor of Sociology 


Joseph Cusumano
Professor of Engineering Science & Mechanics 


Kenneth J. Davis
Professor of Meteorology 


Scott DiLoreto
Greenhouse Manager, College of Agricultural Sciences 


Rosa A Eberly
Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and English 


James Eisenstein
Professor Emeritus of Political Science & Public Policy 


Leland Glenna
Associate Professor of Rural Sociology 


Larry Gorenflo
Professor of Landscape Architecture 


R. Neill Johnson
Director, Penn State Learning 


David W. Jones
Environmental Engineering Lab Manager 


Julia Spicier Kasdorf
Professor of English and Women’s Studies 


Mark T. Kissling
Assistant Professor of Education  


Andrew Lau
Associate Proferssor of Engineering 


Li Li
Associate Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering 


Michael E. Mann

Distinguished Professor
Director
Earth System Science Center (ESSC) 


Ian Marshall
Professor of English and Environmental Studies 


Raymond Najjar
Professor of Oceanography 


Sylvia Neely
Associate Professor Emerita of History 


Caitlin Osborne
Instructor of Dance and Theatre Arts 


Kyle Peck
Professor of Education 


David Post
Professor of Education


Madhu Prakash
Professor of Education 


Jamie Quail
Undergraduate Student of Psychology and Environmental Inquiry


Brandi J. Robinson
Lecturer
Energy and Mineral Engineering 


John Roe
Professor of Mathematics 


Steven Rubin
Associate Professor of Art 


Sajay Samuel
Clinical Professor of Accounting 


Elizabeth Smolcic
Assistant Professor of Education 


Susan Squier
Brill Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and English  


Dana L. Stuchul
Associate professor, Department of Curriculum & Instruction 


Janet K. Swim
Professor of Psychology 


Chris Uhl
Professor of Biology 


Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor
Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and English 


Catherine Wanner
Professor of History and Religious Studies 


Denice H. Wardrop
Senior Scientist


Director, Penn State’s Sustainability Institute 


Ben Wideman

Campus Pastor for 3rd Way CollectiveT


Update #18 years ago
Our petition has had an impact! PSU's strategic plan for 2016-2020 now includes a commitment to becoming a leader in addressing climate change and more deeply fostering sustainability: http://bit.ly/1RlRHeQ Please continue to sign and share the petition with friends and family to keep the pressure up!
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