| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 53.57 |
| Liaison | Noah Upchurch |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2023 |
Catawba College
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.33 / 2.00 |
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the municipal/local level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the municipal/local level:
The College's Center for the Environment has a long track record of involvement in local sustainability and environmental issues. The Center for the Environment receives strong financial and administrative support from the College. In 2021 and 2022, the College received $242 million in anonymous endowment gifts with the goal of the College becoming the leading small college for the environment in the southeastern United States. One-sixth of the earnings on these gifts are allocated to the Center for the Environment to support its operations, which includes its advocacy work.
In particular, the Center has met with numerous local decision-makers to advance sustainability in local public policy through conversations with Rowan County Commissioners, the Town Manager of the City of Salisbury, and the Mayor of Spencer. These conversations with local legislators have spanned a number of topics, including developing interconnected public transportation to reduce dependence on single-opponency vehicle driving, advocating for a more robust litter removal and prevention system within the City of Salisbury, providing improved biking infrastructure for citizens of the City, and helping to design and implement a greenway system that serves our campus and the larger community. The College recently worked with the City's Planning Department to expand the existing greenway system.
To enhance our advocacy for more comprehensive litter reduction and recycling programs in the City of Salisbury, The Center for the Environment has obtained a commitment from the Morehead-Cain Foundation for a three-day session on Catawba College's campus that will convene fifteen community leaders and sixty-eight Morehead-Cain Scholars from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a session to design plans for the reduction of litter and increased recycling in Salisbury.
Members of the College have also worked to encourage the City to apply for the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program's Community Grant program to develop public-access electric vehicle charging infrastructure around the City.
These activities are representative of the types of advocacy the Center has done since its founding in 1996. We see local advocacy as an important part of the Center's mission. We often meet with local officials and seek to make our community a more sustainable place for all residents.
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level:
The Center for the Environment engages in a variety of advocacy issues at the state and regional level. The Center is a member of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, which works to advocate, protect, and ensure a prosperous future for sustainable energy in the State of North Carolina. The current Executive Director of the Center is the former Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources for North Carolina and was recruited to lead the Center because of his advocacy experience on energy, land conservation and other natural resources and public health issues. The Center's regional advocacy work is supported by senior administration at the College through the financial resources described above.
The Center has partnered with Wake Forest University's Center for Energy, Environment & Sustainability to develop the North Carolina Climate Project, which is bringing together academic experts on climate change to work with the state government, localities, colleges and universities, and businesses to address climate change in the state of North Carolina. The team is working with Sustain SC and the Georgia Climate Project to adopt the best practices established in South Carolina and Georgia for developing consensus around strategies for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
The Center for the Environment also has a history of working on air quality, water quality and land conservation and stewardship issues at the state and regional level. The Center works with CleanAIRE NC, the WaterKeeper Alliance, and a number of regional land trusts to advocate for improvements in state laws and regulations. We often serve as a convener for groups working on state-wide environmental issues while also advising on policy proposals and providing interns to leading NGOs.
The College has created a Clean Water Advocacy Field Internship Program with the Waterkeeper Alliance. This program pairs a cohort of Catawba College students with Waterkeeper Alliance staff and faculty of the College, takes students to active pollution areas and areas of environmental justice concern in the State of North Carolina, and then teaches water quality sampling and state advocacy techniques.
The Center's policy development and advocacy work are important priorities for the College.
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the national level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the national level:
As was noted above, the College's Center for the Environment brought on an Executive Director that has high-level advocacy experience. He was hired with a goal of the Center becoming a thought-leader on national sustainability and environmental issues. Additionally, the Center's national advocacy work is supported by senior administration at the College through the financial resources described above.
The Executive Director worked on solar power and battery storage incentive programs that became part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Through the Center, he currently is working with The Outdoor Policy Outfit (TOPO) on the hidden carbon emissions of cash deposits held at banks that make loans to carbon-intensive industries. Please see this article for additional background on this work: https://www.fastcompany.com/90752660/theres-a-hidden-huge-source-of-emissions-companies-are-ignoring-their-banking Here is a link to TOPO's report on this issue: https://www.carbonbankroll.com/ The Center for the Environment is supplying expertise on how cash management for corporations and for colleges and universities can be managed to avoid supporting loans to polluters.
The Center for the Environment is also engaged in an effort to develop policies that will encourage increased energy efficiency for rental housing in the United States. Rental housing suffers from a lack of incentives for landlords to improve energy efficiency since tenants often pay energy bills directly. The Center is working with a leading international investment bank, a large utility and advocacy groups to pursue novel approaches to financing energy efficiency improvements. We expect this work will continue for some time.
We believe the Center for the Environment is uniquely positioned to act as a convener and policy advocate on financial issues around energy efficiency and renewable energy. We expect to expand these efforts in the coming years.
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the international level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the international level:
A brief description of other political positions the institution has taken during the previous three years (if applicable):
A brief description of political donations the institution made during the previous three years (if applicable):
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability advocacy efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.