In 2024-5 the Campus Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC) worked on two initiatives: 1) the college’s approach to impact investing as a tool for reducing global greenhouse gas consumption, and 2) initiatives for reducing electricity consumption on campus to help the campus move away from use of fossil fuels for heating. Full report

Summary:  Subcommittees focused on five areas related to Williams College’s sustainability and environmental goals. The Campus Waste subcommittee proposed a swag policy, that the college sign the Break Free from Plastics Pledge, and right-sizing course reading packets. The Built Environment and Landscaping subcommittee proposed that the college increase transparency around conservation of college land and more »

We explored a variety of campus issues that pertain to sustainability and the environment. In some cases, these explorations covered topics that already have considerable coverage by other College offices; for example, we learned about the long-term energy planning for the College and met with a consultant from Sasaki to learn about the wide-ranging campus more »

Summary: 1) The committee finished up its long-standing project of drafting recommendations on college travel and greenhouse gas emissions. 2) The committee began work on a new project: developing recommendations on landscaping and groundwork at Williams. Full report

Summary: At the suggestion of the Provost, CEAC spent this year on developing a proposal for a Climate Damage Charge (CDC) to be applied to all air travel paid for by the College. Until recently, the levels of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from air travel were not fully accounted for; once they were, it became more »

Summary:  This  report provides a roadmap for helping the college enact its sustainability commitments in six key areas: Climate action; Built Environment, Landscaping, and Land Use; Education and Research; Responsible Consumption; Community, Equity, and Inclusion; Accountability and Transparency. Full report

Summary : The college’s stated commitment requires the purchase of carbon offsets, at least in the short term, to meet our goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2020. Carbon offsets have the potential to generate meaningful reductions in the college’s carbon footprint without compromising its commitment to directly reducing emissions. We recommend specific ways to more »

Summary: CEAC’s goal this year was not to issue recommendations for offset purchasing, but to gather information and explore competing viewpoints with an eye toward developing an offsets policy for the 2020 goal and beyond. The Committee disagreed on many questions about offsetting, sometimes quite strongly. Two things we did not disagree on were the more »

Summary: Due to the substantial size of the committee and its wide-ranging areas of interest, the committee continued the practice used in recent years of conducting most of its business in subcommittees. This year, four subcommittees were formed: sustainability in building and renovation, nonbuilding-related carbon emissions reduction, waste reduction, and sustainable food. Full report

Summary: We agreed that climate change is an existential threat to modern human life, and that Williams College has a role to play in fighting climate change through reducing its own contribution to global warming and through educating our students regarding the threat it poses to human wellbeing and to the natural environment. To this more »