Green Profile- John McCarthy, CUA College Democrats

Our final Green Profile is John McCarthy the newly elected Chairman of the CUA College Democrats.

Ryan: What first inspired you to get involved with environmental issues, and specifically with College Democrats?

John: Growing up in New Jersey, specifically around the Raritan Bayshore region, I was always sensitive to issues regarding offshore energy development including oil drilling and exploration, liquefied natural gas and the potential for renewable energy sources. First engaged as a child in an issue specifically specifically engaging my hometown in a debate over local dredging of beach sand, I saw the direct result that federal and state policy can play in environmental protection. Coming from Monmouth County New Jersey, one of the greatest agricultural producers in the state, I grown to appreciate the importance of "agri-tourism" and the contributions of local produce to the economic region.

Ryan: What role do you see college students playing in the fight to stop global climate change and promote sustainability?

John: College students have the unique opportunity to take action in a community that is typically pre-charged with the activist spirit. While other community organizers must first work to engage their community, college students are fortunate to have a (typically) willing audience to share their message. Students are already seen as leaders in their community for their scholastic commitment and local leadership, and in that sense, have the great responsibility to be stewards of a message promoting sustainable living options as well as the importance of responding to the global climate shift that we are currently undergoing. By remaining engaged in the local governance and community initiatives, College Democrats gain the ability to craft an environmental platform and action plan tailored directly to their neighborhoods.

Ryan: What is one measure college students can take to make climate change a major focus on their respective campuses?

John: Being Green is fashionable right now! Everyone is looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint, while creating long-term solutions to environmental problems. Target that! Students can look around their campuses and see where the university is creating the most waste. Perhaps they are not disposing properly of toxic technological equipment. Maybe they chose to use Styrofoam in the cafeteria despite having the option towards a more reusable alternative. Do they make it difficult to use reusable water bottles and take-out containers? If so, you already have a specific problem you can target. Universities often serve as the petri dishes for initiatives later applied to municipalities. Take action, observe your results, and share with your local elected officials.

Ryan: Any other advice for aspiring environmentalists looking to get involved?

John: Environmental stewardship is counter intuitive. When we stand in front of the refrigerated section at a convenience store, rarely do we think that the entire contents of that case will be in a landfill within a week. Environmental activism is rooted in shifted lifestyles and the sharing of stories. If an individual is able to successfully share their story about how they were able to change their environmental impact and how it has benefited them and the world around them, they have succeeded. Environmental activism is founded in this exchange of ideas and the motivation for a more sustainable lifestyle.

Green Profile- Natalia Siegel, CUA Students on the Mount

One of our final Green Profiles is Natalia Siegel of Students on the Mount. CUA Students on the Mount is a new organization whose mission is to spread the word regarding Catholic Social Teaching.

Ryan: What first inspired you to get involved with environmental issues,
and specifically with Students on the Mount?

Natalia: SOTM follows the Church's call to be stewards of the earth. For us that means caring for the earth entirely and ensuring that it is of equal importance to us as the poor and vulnerable.

Ryan: What role do you see college students playing in the fight to stop
global climate change and promote sustainability?

Natalia: Students have an important role in promoting sustainability because of two main reasons: passion and the ability to mobilize. College students feel passionately about these issues because they see this as something that is important to our future and as something that must be protected. Inspired by this passion students are able to mobilize en masse in order to fix this issue. Greenpeace, Powershift 2011, local college green clubs etc. are all ways that students are getting involved in order to help the environment.

Ryan: What is one measure college students can take to make climate
change a major focus on their respective campuses?

Natalia: In order to fix climate change we must fix our bad habits. Promoting recycling as well as environmentally friendly items in bookstores allows us to start decreasing our carbon footprint. Students need to utilize their power as the fuel for the university in order to pressure the university officials to fix the levels of waste campuses produce etc.

Ryan: Do you view climate change as a social justice issue?

Natalia: Climate change is absolutely a social justice issue for two reasons. First, because we must care for the earth and keep the environment and animals healthy as we would our own families. Second, because the people who are being affected the worst by massive climate change are the poor and vulnerable. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6532323.stm)

-Ryan

Green Profile- Peter Rescigno, CUA Sophomore and Chairman XVIII of the CUA College Republicans

Our most recent Green Profile is Peter Rescigno, CUA Sophomore and next year's Chairman of the CUA College Republicans. The CUA CRs are one of the largest and most active groups on campus. Peter gives us his take on the opportunities for the GOP to more fully engage environmental issues in the coming months.

Ryan: How do you think environmental issues with will fit into the 2012
GOP platform?

Peter: With the 2012 campaign right around the corner, environmental issues will be one part of the many issues that will fit into the GOP platform, Coming from a college GOP perspective, I think that there will needs to be a more private ownership focus in regards to the environmental agenda. Change in the environment starts with the people that live in and with it. There is no way government can control, through legislation, the everyday abuses of the environment that are currently occuring. One potential solution to environment decline is through market-based solutions which incentivize individuals to take responsibly for their own actions. Cap and trade or marketable permits in the areas of air pollution and water pollution will most likely be offered as key parts to the GOPs platform, however with drastic changes to the Waxman-Markey plan that failed in the Senate in 2009. It has been a long time coming and with the ever changing political atmosphere, 2012 is looking more like the year. Overall, it will be important to make it clear that conservation is conservative. Just because you are a Republican does not mean that you are against clean energy, it means you are for it in a more fiscally sound way.

Ryan: What role do you see college students playing in the fight against
climate change and the promotion of sustainability?

I think college students have already started taking action promoting sustainability. The Green Club has been very active on Catholic's campus, working diligently in the computer labs and workshops, collecting scraps and papers to be recycled. More and more students are using recycled materials and energy efficient light bulbs. Efforts on the part of college students, especially at Catholic, will continue to increase as advocacy and individuals start to change their own habits. It is a trend setting situation, as soon as one student does it, the rest follow and it becomes habitual.

Ryan: What changes could CUA implement to save money and pursue sustainability?

I think CUA is on the right track to saving money and promoting sustainability. Last year's addition of solar panels on the roof of Flather Hall shows the commitment the University has to the environment and renewable energy sources. In terms of furthering that trend, I think CUA should replace the Styrofoam to go boxes in the pryz. and replace them with recycled plastic containers. Little changes, like replacing Styrofoam, shaves years off the decay process happening in land fills across this country.

Ryan: What advice would you give to GOP voters concerned with environmental issues?

For GOP voters concerned with environmental policy, I would remind them that a fix to the environment is important and that if we do not do something soon, the environment will suffer. But it is important to remember that environment reform is not going to come in sweeping legislation reform mandated from Washington D.C. or State Houses across this country, it comes from individuals and individual responsibility. Again, changes to bad environmental policy will come small at first, but with small changes comes lasting sustainability.

-Ryan

What CUA Can Learn from Santa Clara

The National Catholic Reporter recently published an article under their Colleges and Universities section, entitled ‘Stewards of the Natural World.’ Featured in this article is Santa Clara University in California. Santa Clara is attempting to promote sustainability at their university by having programs like “Living Green in the Neighborhood.” But as the article mentions, Santa Clara hopes to start a discussion amongst Catholic universities in which the idea of sustainability is linked to the Catholic mission.

Santa Clara has developed an Office of Sustainability, which allows one office to be solely dedicated to the issue. This office provides a way for the students to understand the “three aspects of sustainability – environmental, social and economic… [and] the link between sustainability and Catholic social teaching.”

This, however, is no easy task. Therefore, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change is looking to create a ‘toolkit’ for Catholic institutions to make the process easier. Hopefully, it will give guidelines and information that will not only make the university more ‘green,’ but will also connect Catholic universities to their Catholic identity in a new, key way. A uniform process will also make dialogue between universities easier. This toolkit takes its five pillars from the St Francis Pledge; pray, learn, assess, act and advocate.

It is important for Catholic universities to not be left behind in this movement. Especially now since The Princeton Review has added a green colleges guide to their repertoire of information on colleges and universities. This makes sustainability issues another angle of competition between colleges and universities. Therefore, it would probably be a good idea if the Catholic institutions took this toolkit opportunity and led the way into a sustainable campus future.


Check out the full article here

-Dan

Green Profile- Andrew Cronholm, The Cadmus Group

Our first green profile in Andrew Cronholm of the Cadmus Group.

Andrew is a 2008 graduate of Drew University and currently a research associate with the Cadmus Group. Since it's founding in 1983 "Cadmus has grown to become a leading support contractor for EPA, not only in the area of drinking water but also in voluntary programs, indoor air and radiation, and energy efficiency. Cadmus has also grown the sides of our business devoted to private sector and non-profit clients. And branched into international development."

I recently sat down with Andrew to get his take on the issues of climate change and sustainability as well as the opportunity for college students to engage these policy areas:

Ryan: What first inspired you to get involved with environmental issues, and specifically your work with Cadmus?

Andrew: My father was a very outdoorsy guy...he grew up hiking sailing and doing pretty much everything outside. He wanted his children to experience nature and I decided that I wanted to make a career of it. With regards to Cadmus...you know this story...but I interned with DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division in DC my junior year and I feel in love with environmental policy, so I started applying to jobs in the environmental sector my senior year. the rest is history.

Ryan: What role do you see college students playing in the fight to stop global climate change and promote sustainability?

Andrew: Active college students, are of course, the next generation of leaders in the country. Their children will see the results of our action or inaction when it comes to climate change. Students need to put political pressure on the administration to make coherent, federal frameworks around policy. Students also need to engage the private sector businesses to they can prepare for a new regulatory matrix, and so they can realize that sustainability is appealing.

Ryan: What is one measure college students can take to make climate change a major focus on their respective campuses?

Andrew: Make climate change studies exciting and prevalent to everyday life.

Ryan: What advice would you give to soon to be graduates interested in making an impact in the working world?

Andrew: I'd tell them to store their "idealistic ambitions" away for the first few years, since their first job will likely be rooted in the pragmatic realities of government policy. Gain business experience, build professional networks and get the training you need so that you can land the job of your dreams and then dust off that idealism and put it to work!

-Ryan