| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.49 |
| Liaison | Lisa Kilgore |
| Submission Date | April 28, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Cornell University
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Gary
Stewart Director of Community Relations Department of Government and Community Relations |
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, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:
A variety of Cornell units and members of the University community are regularly engaged with Tompkins County organizations and leaders working on carbon neutrality, sustainability, and cutting-edge strategies that touch on government policies, utility infrastructure and more efficient ways to engage and empower.
A Cornell staffer serves on the county-appointed Environmental Management Council, http://tompkinscountyny.gov/emc while staff and faculty have offered inputs and expertise in development of the Tompkins County Energy Roadmap.
Cornell was also a founding member of the world-class Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative, http://www.tccpi.org that includes governments, businesses and citizens from all walks of life, who advocate for key legislation, and related ordinances tied to solar, wind, coal, natural gas, and on other key topics/
Finally, Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, http://www.atkinson.cornell.edu is the first research institution to unite three pillars of sustainability—energy, environment, and economic development—in one center. Grant programs have provided leadership and resources tied to public policy, and related developments.
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, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:
Cornell is leading an effort to reverse a State policy to take the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from all renewable energy projects that received any funding from NYS. NYS planned to count all of these credits toward the State goal for renewable energy. In order to do that they would deprive the builders and owners of these projects (private firms and institutions) of the ability to own these credits and to make these claims. We organized a formal group of these recipients to point out the drawbacks of this policy and the harm to the environment. We had the Legislature introduce a bill and write letters to state agencies. The NYS Public Service Commission discussed this with us in several conversations as did NYSERDA and the Governor’s office.
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, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:
Cornell generally advocates only for legislation or policies that have a direct impact on our operations as a university – anything that impacts our students, faculty, staff, and operations as a non-profit institution with missions of education, research, patient care, and outreach. Our faculty are experts on many issues that touch on sustainability, but on which the University does not take a position. We encourage them to share their expertise and research to help shape policy in a broad range of areas including climate change, energy policy, agricultural practices, economic development, water resources, invasive species, species conservation, among others.
Cornell University advocates for robust funding for all agencies that sponsor federal research, including the NIH, NSF, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, USDA, EPA, NOAA, and USGS. In addition, we work to prevent restrictions on funding certain categories of research (climate change, social science) that impact sustainability. We have advocated against legislation that would impose a political filter on research or hamstring federal scientists from doing their jobs.
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, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:
A brief description of other political positions the institution has taken during the previous three years (if applicable):
N/A
A brief description of political donations the institution made during the previous three years (if applicable):
N/A
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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.