UNH Hosts Climate Change Symposium June 18
Focus on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Energy Efficiency, Saving Money

Contact: Sharon Keeler
603-862-1566
UNH Media Relations

June 11, 2004



DURHAM, N.H. – The New England Governors’ Conference (NEGC), Inc., in partnership with the University of New Hampshire, will host the New England Governors’ and Eastern Canadian Premiers’ (NEG/ECP) College and University Climate Change Symposium Friday, June 18, 2004, at the New England Center on the UNH Durham campus.

UNH is recognized as a national leader on climate change and energy issues for integrating the ethics, science, technology and policies of energy conservation and greenhouse gas emission reductions into its curriculum and organizational practices.

Participating institutions include UNH, Tufts University, the University of Rhode Island, Middlebury College, Brown University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, Harvard University, the University of Southern Maine, the University of Vermont, the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency, the Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development, the Newfoundland Department of the Environment, the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, the National Association of Colleges and Universities, Clean Air-Cool Planet, the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

The event is being held as part of the NEG/ECP Campus Partnership, in which colleges and universities pledged to support the goals of the 2001 NEG/ECP Climate Action Plan through voluntary programs on their campuses.

The plan calls for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, through increased energy efficiency and conservation, community education, wise planning and investment.

A highlight of the symposium will be the presentation of the UNH Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. Developed in collaboration with the Portsmouth-based non-profit Clean Air-Cool Planet as part of UNH’s Climate Education Initiative, the inventory is the first of its kind and is now being used by universities across the country to calculate greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

John Shea, director of NEGC energy and environmental programs, will open the symposium at 9 a.m. and UNH President Ann Weaver Hart will give remarks at the 3:30 p.m. closing plenary session.
Findings from the symposium will be presented at the Aug. 22-23, 2004, NEG/ECP annual conference in Canada.

For more information, contact UNH’s Office of Sustainability Programs at (603) 862-4088.