Posted on behalf of Hopkins student, Teryn Norris
Published: July 26, 2007
President William Brody of Johns Hopkins has just announced the adoption of a new climate change policy that seeks to make the university a leader in the fight against global warming. “Johns Hopkins is eager to rise to this immense challenge,” Brody announced. “As of today, I am committing The Johns Hopkins University to become a driving force for developing solutions to the climate change problem.” In a university-wide email sent out early this week, Brody set forth an ambitious initiative to be guided by a comprehensive set of principles:
- Leverage university strengths in science, technology, public health, and public policy to contribute to finding solutions to issues related to climate change on a global level.
To implement these principles, Brody is forming a President’s Task Force on Climate Change that will consist of energy experts, students, and national leaders such as the CEO of Constellation Energy and the chief sustainability officer at Citibank, to bring attention to the initiative and help bankroll a serious effort. Within one year, the task force will accomplish three goals:
- Develop a comprehensive Climate Strategic Plan to achieve the climate recommendations of the Johns Hopkins Sustainability Committee.
- Create an interdisciplinary working group, comprising university experts from different divisions, to focus on innovative and novel approaches to creating the appropriate incentives for individual, group and societal behavior changes as they relate to climate change.
- Begin developing strong relationships with state and local governments within the greater Baltimore-Washington region, exploring how to collaboratively address climate change issues.
The announcement also puts pressure on other universities to make similar efforts. Brody makes it clear that Johns Hopkins will not be alone and that a dozen other major universities
