Focus the Campus

Despite the US Federal Government’s incredible lack of initiative on the topic, there is a great deal of activity taking place here to confront global warming. In California the legislative mandate for this is coming from AB 32, a bill passed in 2006 which requires California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020, and to 80% of that by 2050. It seems the lead in this country on this issue will have to come from the bottom up.

Yesterday there was a nationwide teach-in on global warming called Focus the Nation. This was perhaps the largest teach-in ever in this country, with over 1750 institutions participating. The University of California took the event quite seriously, and our Davis campus had many events going on.

I didn’t go to any of the panel sessions that ran all day in the student Rec Center, but went to the Ideas Fair and the World of Ideas Café in Freeborn Hall nearby my office. The Ideas Fair which I went to over lunch was populated by lots of groups, everyone from the Community Alliance with Family Farmers to the campus Transportation and Parking Services department. My favorite booth was the one setup by Campus Utilities that invited you to do a blind taste test comparing UC Davis tap water, UC Davis filtered water, City of Davis tap water, and Arrowhead bottled water, the point being that bottled water isn’t necessarily better tasting than tap water.

The World of Ideas Café ran at the end of the day. 17 teams each with a different theme presented their ideas for dealing with greenhouse gases and increasing energy efficiency, and we got to wander around and talk to team members and then vote on what were our favorite ideas. I liked the ideas on achieving efficiency through eco-friendly urban design and transportation systems.