Time: 12:00 am

Present Dennis Easley, Mark Kanazawa, Kelly Carlin, Lizzy Shephard, Vera Change, Anne Ulmer, Rob Lampaa, Kirk Campbell, Gary Wagenbach, Bruce Anderson

Absent Steve Spehn, Jannel Anderson

Announcements
– President Oden signed the Presidents Climate Commitment. Lizzy is arranging a card to thank President Oden for his leadership.
– Campus Wars has concluded and was very successful. We saved a total of 121,500 kwh, compared to an average of the past three Februaries cutting overall Carleton electricity consumption by 10.1%.

Taskforces
Communication – Vera, Lizzy, Mark, Gary, Tim, Mathias
– Lizzy discussed the role of EAC and more generally sustainability on KRLX.
– Finalizing details of the website
– Meeting scheduled with Matt Ryan (web developer) to review what has been done
Transportation – Bruce, Dennis, Jannel
– The sub-committee is still evaluating our current vehicles.
– There goal is to create a plan for replacement of both fleet vehicles and buildings and grounds vehicles
– Creating a community vehicle sharing fleet is still being explored.
– Gary suggested that we could approach car manufacturers about demoing new vehicles, specifically plug-ins
– There will likely be a Northfield Mayor’s Taskforce on Non-Motorized Transportation
Energy – Whit, Steve, Eric, Mark, Kirk, Rob
– Vending misers have been ordered and will be piloted over spring break.
– Six students attended the Midwest Climate Action Conference and are enthused about working on these issues on our campus.
Paper – Kelly, Anne
– Still meeting with print management committee. 2 of the 3 systems are ready to demo. They are still working on the third. They demoing is planned for early Spring Term.

Other agenda items
Work-study proposal
– Eric and Whit proposed a work-study to work on sustainability projects during spring break. There focuses will be on researching the non-monetary benefits (PR, reputation, attracting students, donors, etc.) of the wind turbine and developing an alumni network for EAC and ENTS. With remaining hours they will investigate the requirements environmental studies graduate programs require. And also measure plug loads.
– Mark and Rob volunteered to advise them during spring break.
– The EAC approved a work-study of 30 hours each at the student worker wage.
Taskforce Dinners
– EAC agreed that the committee can fund a dinner for each taskforce.
AASHE Membership
– Our membership with AASHE needs to be renewed. The EAC paid the $1000 membership fee last year. The committee unanimously approved renewing membership.
– It was noted that not everyone is aware of AASHE as a resource and that we should publicize it more.

Sustainability Policy and Carbon Neutrality
Elise Elsinger
– President Oden joined the Leadership Circle of the Presidential Climate Commitment, and thus he will be encouraging his colleagues to join as well.
– President Oden’s office was impressed with this sustainability initiative because it is more comprehensive then other proposed sustainability initiatives
– Fulfilling our commitment will require pulling together existing resources at Carleton, and possibly creating new ones. The EAC is the correct group to figure out how to carry this out.
Mark
– Created a nice schematic of sustainability interest/initiatives on campus. He suggested that the EAC should define itself as a clearinghouse for information for all of these groups
Sustainability Policy Subcommittee
– This sub-group met and they are initially asking the questions of what sustainability means to them, and what they think it should mean to Carleton.
Near-term opportunities
– Bruce told us about some near-term opportunities to pursue sustainability and carbon neutrality.
– Application for the Third Round of Excel’s Renewable Development Fund will be published shortly. They are looking for unique projects. Perhaps a large solar array on the Rec Center or new Arts Center.
– It once again seems possible that a wind farm would be constructed near campus. Carleton would have the opportunity to buy electricity directly from this generation for an attractive fixed price.
Consultants
– Lizzy and Steve have been discussing the possibility of hiring consultants from the Rocky Mountain Institute. They had a conference call with Carleton alum Alexis Karolides about this possibility. RMI could come for 6 months, for 10 hours a week, for roughly $40,000. The first step is asking Alexis to come speak at Earth Day
Carbon Neutrality Sub-Group – Bruce, Mark, Eric, Rob, Whit
– A sub-group was formed to discuss how to go about planning for carbon neutrality.

Upcoming Events
– Next Friday, the 16th, Bruce and Rob are planning on visiting a wind turbine manufacturer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a tour of their plant and to meet with a sales representative.
– The Center for Sustainable Living will be having there next meeting on March 20th at 7:30
– The CRWP Annual Summit is March 21st from 8:30 am to 4 pm. The topic is “The Ethanol Industry: Effects on Water Resources.”
– The Southeast Clean Energy Resources Team (CERT) will be hosting a community discussion on the future of energy in Rice County at the Northfield Public Library on March 21st at 6:30.

The next EAC Meeting will be March 29th in Upper Sayles.