Meadville, Pa. – April 18, 2007 – Allegheny College President Richard J. Cook recently signed, as a founding member of the leadership circle, the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. The commitment is a challenge to colleges and universities to develop a comprehensive plan to eliminate their global warming emissions and expand educational resources for students in the fields of sustainability and the environment.
“Allegheny is not only committed to reducing its own impact on the environment, but we are also dedicated to providing students with the knowledge and skills they need to deal with ongoing environmental issues as they assume leadership roles,” stated Cook. “We also hope to set an early example to many other institutions of higher education that have not yet made this commitment. Achieving climate neutrality and making investments in the environmental education of today's youth are critical to the long-term health of our economy and society.”
Wind energy already accounts for 10 percent of the college's power usage—and that figure will soon increase to 15 percent. Allegheny was the first college or university in Pennsylvania to install a technologically advanced on-campus composter, which produces mulch from leaves and dining hall food waste to fertilize campus grounds.
In 2006 the college built apartment-style residences that use natural lighting, furniture made of wood from sustainable forests, and a geothermal heating and cooling system. New parking lots are built of porous materials that allow rain and snow to seep into the ground rather than run off into the storm sewer system.
In 1972 Allegheny became one of the first colleges in the country to develop an undergraduate environmental science program. An outgrowth of the program is the Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED), which engages students, faculty and the community in creating innovative approaches to environmental stewardship, environmental education and regional revitalization.
Richard Cook's leadership role in environmental issues on college campuses is a natural outgrowth of his own background. He began his academic life as a chemistry professor whose specialty was the intersection of science and public policy. Following his work related to the Love Canal waste depository in Niagara Falls, Cook became vice-chair of the Michigan Toxic Substance Control Commission and was later appointed to the Governor's Environmental Science Board.
