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October 1, 2007

Chancellor Blumenthal signs Climate Action Compact

By Guy Lasnier (831) 459-2955; lasnier@ucsc.edu

Chancellor George Blumenthal joined Santa Cruz city and county officials in pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at their respective institutions and to encourage private, public, and nonprofit investment as part of the solution to global climate change.

Blumenthal, Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly and Santa Cruz County Supervisor Neal Coonerty signed a Climate Action Compact in a ceremony September 26. Blumenthal called the compact “a historic day for our region.”

“It shows that three institutions that need to work together are actually doing that--working together for the common good of our area and planet,” Blumenthal said, calling the agreement “an important example of the power of cooperation and collaboration in our community.”

Santa Cruz County is the perfect place for such an agreement “because we have a University of California” campus, said Fred Keeley, county treasurer and a former state Assemblymember, who helped broker the pact.

The Climate Action Compact grew out of the Climate Solutions Leadership Summit held at UCSC in April. There, Keeley called together local government, business and nonprofit officials together to discuss ways they could reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Blumenthal said UCSC, which is now carbon neutral through the purchase of green-energy credits, would continue to reduce its carbon footprint. The campus will also contribute research in helping develop new technologies to combat global warming. One consequence would be the creation of new “green” businesses that could grow in the Santa Cruz area, boosting the local economy.

Blumenthal arrived in a Toyota Prius from Zipcar, the car sharing company (see related story. Joining him were Mayor Reilly, Professor Lisa Sloan, dean of Graduate Studies, and Larry Pageler, director of UCSC’s Transportation and Parking Services.

A bicycle-powered electric generator powered the public address system at the event. Contributing pedal power at one point was physics professor emeritus Peter Scott. Blumenthal noted that he and Scott once bicycled to the Lick Observatory atop Mt. Hamilton.

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