New York University
PAE-24: Sustainability Policy Advocacy

NYU supported the Higher Education in Sustainability Act and advocated directly for No Child Left Inside Bill. We also have a whole office that does advocacy for higher education (www.nyu.edu/ogca) and a dedicated staffperson in Albany and in Washington, DC who do this. Both are familiar with and routinely in touch with the Sustainability Office about priorities for Sustainability in Higher Education. NYU also signed the American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), pledging to advocacy on behalf of sustainability in the higher education community.

University Relations and Public Affairs 70 Washington Square South, Room 1210 New York, New York 10012-1019 telephone: 212 998 2350 fax: 212 995 4822 lynne.brown@nyu.edu Lynne P. Brown Senior Vice President October 23, 2007 The Honorable Jerrold Nadler Member of Congress 2334 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressman Nadler: I am writing to urge your support and co-sponsorship of H.R. 3637, the Higher Education Sustainability Act (HESA), legislation to assist American universities develop, implement and evaluate economic, environmental, and social sustainability programs. As population growth, urban development and energy demands place increasing stress on global ecosystems, the need for innovative approaches to sustainability become critical to economic competitiveness, environmental health and strong communities. Specifically, the HESA would authorize a new $50 million grant program at the Department of Education which would support between 25 to 200 sustainability projects annually at institutions of higher education. Along with the grant program, HESA directs the Secretary of Education to convene a summit of higher education experts to showcase best practices in the sustainability fields. Goals of the legislation are to 1) Produce 3 million “sustainability-literate” college graduates each year; 2) Educate and train the next generation of scientists, engineers planners, and business leaders for 21st century careers in the public and private sector, and; 3) Embed long-term sustainable practices in all higher education institutions throughout the U.S. NYU’s Sustainability Initiative Sustainability is a growing priority of NYU students, faculty and administrators, and its ideas are dramatically altering our lives and our institutions. To the NYU community, sustainability means investing in and improving our operations and infrastructure, safeguarding the health and well being of its community members, and conserving energy and the natural environment that supports and underpins them both. Sustainability is about more than mitigating ecological impacts. Along with academic excellence and public service, it can be a foundational principle for our university—another lens through which we see our values and mission. To accomplish our sustainability goals and become more “green,” in October 2006 NYU Executive Vice President Michael C. Alfano created the NYU Sustainability Task Force and the subsequent Green Action Plan. We are proud of the tremendous progress made in the past year. Specifically NYU has: • Made the largest purchase of wind energy by any U.S. university, and pledged to continue to make clean, renewable sources a part of its energy mix; • Launched a $120 million renovation of the cogeneration power plant on our campus, which will quadruple the number of buildings served by this clean, high-efficiency energy source; • Pledged to reduce the carbon footprint of NYU by 30% over ten years, as a partner in Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC Challenge; • Formed a campus-wide Sustainability Task Force composed of faculty, students, and administrators, charged with creating and caretaking a university Green Action Plan; • Committed $250,000 annually for at least four years to a Sustainability Fund through which the NYU community can submit campus greening, research and demonstration projects. The Fund is currently supporting 16 initial projects; • Initiated a new, multidisciplinary undergraduate Environmental Studies Program directed by Professor Dale Jamieson, as well as a masters program in Bioethics. To learn more about the NYU sustainability initiative, please visit: http://www.nyu.edu/sustainability. Congressional passage of H.R. 3637 will allow NYU and other universities to expand upon current efforts and prompt the infusion of sustainability studies into multiple disciplines within higher education curricula. This will result in a critical mass of graduates who are knowledgeable about our sustainability challenges and engaged in advancing solutions in both their careers and in their community life. On behalf of the NYU community, I urge your support of the Higher Education Sustainability Act with the hope that the legislation can be included in the House version of the Higher Education Act (HEA) or passed as a stand alone bill. Thank you for your attention to this request and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions about the legislation or about NYU’s Sustainability Initiative. Sincerely, Lynne P. Brown Chair, NYU Sustainability Task Force and Senior Vice President for University Relations & Public Affairs