Location: Sayles-Hill Room 212

Time: 3:00 p.m.

EAC Members in Attendance: Dan Maxbauer, Peter Sallinger, Erica Zweifel, Aaron Swoboda, Martha Larson, Sadie DiCarlo, Tamnnet Kidanu, Arjendu Pattanayak, Elliot Hanson, Alex Miller, Kate Meyer, Jeremy Flesihacker, Grace Bassekle 

Secretary: Beck Woollen

Agenda: 

Climate Action Week and Budget Approval

  • The theme this year is wellness and how we can sustain ourselves. 
  • We will have a diversity of workshops, including SWA Dogs, Bon Appetit healthy foods, Chemistry Department, and snow sculptures.
  • The schedule of events has been emailed out to the EAC.
  • EAC has extra money since we have not been spending on students attending conferences. 
  • Motion to approve from Aaron seconded from Arjendu
    • Budget passed unanimously

Alumni ‘74 secured a donation of $10,000/year for 10 years focused on solar power and battery storage.

  • Next phase of strategy following the Utility Master Plan

Carbon Offsets: discussion & presentation from Alex

  • Since FY08, scope 1 emissions have decreased by 56%, scope 2 have decreased by 75%, and scope 3 have decreased by 76%. Scope 3 emissions were plateauing pre-COVID, around 5,500-6,000 MTCDE. Post-COVID, we expect a return to this point—only a 33% reduction compared to FY08.
  • Currently, Scope 3 emissions are 22.1% of our emissions profile. Post-COVID, we anticipate Scope 3 to be > 50% of the emissions profile.
  • Scopes 1 and 2 are likely to continue decreasing in the coming years given our current practices.
  • EAC tasked with brainstorming and developing a policy to guide College offset policy
  • Scope 3 emissions: burned off site and used offsite, but related to campus operations.
    • Especially interested in offsetting air travel.
  • A vegetarian diet is captured in Real Food Calculator and AASHE Stars, but not calculated in emissions.
  • Existing offset programs
  1. Carleton Cowling Arboretum
  2. UCapture Offsets
  • Beyond this, we have not engaged in offset exploration.
  • $40,000 – $45,000/year available through community solar credits to apply toward offsets, without compromising other needs.
  • Estimated offset costs: 
    • OCS: $40,315
    • Faculty/Staff Air Travel: $36,525
    • Commuting: $19,668
    • Other: $14,353
    • Total Scope 3: $110,862 for 5,532 MTCDE
  • EAC’s task: synthesize funding sources, what carbon to offset, and offset selection criteria

Post-Activity Discussion

  1. Funding Sources: address second
  • We have seed money. Let’s figure out how to spend it, and then scale up. 
  1. Selecting Offsets: address first
  • Not necessarily pitting local vs. credible against each other. We may first prioritize local, but if we cannot do local, then we ought to make sure that our program is credible.
  1. Carbon Emissions to Offset: address third
  • This is a question of scale. 
  • Questions were raised about what’s missing from our tallies (ie. student flights to/from campus, campus fleet vehicle trips). 

Northfield Strategic Goals

  • The City of Northfield has a CAP, that we should draw inspiration from.
  • Read handout for next meeting