Members of the Climate Action Plan’s Steering Committee speak at a panel held on Jan. 30. (Miles Swope/ CU Independent)
Members from the steering committee of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) addressed the public at a town hall meeting held in the University Memorial Center on Jan. 30.
CAP is the university’s blueprint for adopting climate solutions that address the injustice and inequity associated with the climate crisis. The agenda of the town hall was to update the Boulder community on the university’s plans regarding carbon neutrality, as well as to announce the release of a CAP draft that will be updated and improved upon based on public feedback received from the open comments of a CU Boulder Today article that is set to be released on Feb. 5.
The goal of the plan is to achieve an overall 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and “a clear path to a zero emissions target for all categories by no later than 2050,” according to CAP’s website.
“We’re very excited about this climate action plan. We all believe in it and we really need strong partnership from everybody to help us push this forward and be successful,” said Chris Ewing, the vice chancellor for Infrastructure and Sustainability.
The panel focused on the necessity of community participation in achieving CAP’s goals and addressing the climate-related issues facing the Boulder community.
“We can’t continue to refine and make the plan better without people asking questions and in some cases challenging us, which we want,” Ewing said.
According to the CU’s environmental center’s website, CAP is intended to simultaneously work toward the university achieving climate neutrality, as well as addressing issues of injustice related to climate change and ensuring that “the benefits of climate action are equally distributed.”
Chris Bentley, a Boulder community member and climate change activist of 40 years, emphasized the importance of direct feedback and encouraging participation from community members.
Bentley said that he can “circumvent” many potential challenges by personally participating in meetings regarding the university’s approach to the zero-emission plan.
“I’ve been involved in this process for a while,” Bentley said. “Instead of a teacher having to go up the chain of command on this, I can just go to talk to Phil [Distefano] and give him my thoughts.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Miles Swope at miles.swope@colorado.edu
