BSU, county and state take steps to address global warming

BSU, county and state take steps to address global warming

Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora and Delaware County Commissioner John Brooke believe global warming is linked directly to human activity, while U.S. Rep. Mike Pence remains a doubter. Gov. Mitch Daniels didn't want to talk about it last week, and Mayor Sharon McShurley said she was too busy to do so.

Organizers of Earth Day 2008 are hoping to generate one million calls to Congress on Tuesday to urge the federal government to take action against global warming.



Pence disagrees with ex-Vice President Al Gore (who believes there is a planetary emergency) and will not give in to Earth Day Network demands such as a moratorium on the construction of all new conventional coal-fired power plants.

The only demand from Earth Day Network that Pence agrees with is to protect the poor and middle class from unfairly bearing the cost of solving the climate crisis.
"I'm a yes on that one," Pence said. "I have been told by experts in the utility industry in Indiana that some of what Congress is debating under the rubric of global climate change could result in a 20-percent increase in the utility bills of working Hoosiers."

Daniels declined to respond to a request from The Star Press asking him to agree or disagree with the statement that global warming is linked directly to human activity such as the observed increase in greenhouse gas concentrations.

Thomas Easterly, the commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, also declined to state an opinion.

"The format of agree/disagree answers to statements is not an approach we believe lends itself to an effective discussion about a complex topic," said Jane Jankowski, a spokeswoman for the governor, who was offered an opportunity to not only agree/disagree but to comment.

Asked what action the state of Indiana was taking to address climate change/global warming, Jankowski provided a list of initiatives, events, grants and so forth that the state has been involved in since Daniels took office.

The list includes wind farm construction; wetland/wildlife habitat conservation and reforestation; nearly $720,000 in grants for the purchase of alternative energy systems that will help offset fossil fuel use; tax credits for Energy Star-rated appliances; construction of new state buildings that are energy efficient; recycling, and requiring state facilities in Marion County to get seven percent of their electricity from renewable sources.

Last year, Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Illinois signed the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota signed the agreement as observers.


More greenhouse gas
During the past century, humans have substantially added to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil and gasoline) to power cars, factories, utilities and appliances, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The added gases are enhancing the natural greenhouse effect and likely contributing to an increase in global average temperature and related climate change, the agency says.
Climate change is being observed in the Great Lakes region as winters are getting shorter, while annual average temperatures, the number of extreme heat events and the number of heavy precipitation events are increasing, according to the Purdue University Climate Change Research Center.

Last year, Gora signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

"We ... became one of the 12 charter signatories of ACUPCC," Gora said. "Now, hundreds of other colleges and universities across the country have joined Ball State in our commitment to sharply reduce and eventually eliminate all of the university's global warming emissions."

That commitment is demonstrated by BSU's vehicle fleet (the majority of which is hybrid cars, E-85 and biodiesel vehicles and six electric buses); construction of new green buildings that are rated as energy efficient; construction of a $42 million advanced coal combustor; and the longest-standing faculty-staff green committee in Indiana's higher education community, Gora said.

BSU is also committed to recycling and to long-lived tree plantings that sequester carbon.

"We continue to look at the economics of solar and wind power, but neither of those options is ready for prime time here yet," said BSU facilities official Kevin Kenyon.

Brooke, president of the board of county commissioners, said county government had taken various steps to address global warming, such as completing an energy audit of the county building; taking price quotes to remove some of the concrete around the county building; exploring a potential vegetated roof for the justice center; co-sponsoring the Living Lightly Fair; and buying heavy equipment, vehicles and other machinery that produces less exhaust.

The Star Press asked Mayor Sharon McShurley for her position on global warming and whether she planned to sign the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. McShurley said she could not find time to respond over the course of three-and-a-half days.

Climate change is being observed in the Great Lakes region as winters are getting shorter, while annual average temperatures, the number of extreme heat events and the number of heavy precipitation events are increasing, according to the Purdue University Climate Change Research Center

source-http://www.thestarpress.com/