The University of Wisconsin-Madison Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Use and Climate Change held a meeting Monday to discuss potential ways of addressing climate change on campus.
A panel of UW-Madison faculty led the discussion on topics including what the university is currently doing about climate change, the science and impact of it and funding for initiatives.
Donald Downs, a political science professor at UW-Madison and chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Climate Change, said the University Committee assembled the group to construct a report on how UW-Madison should react to environmental issues.
The theme of the meeting was how to encourage the university to get rid of its investments in fossil fuels, according to Downs, which is known as divestment.
Craig Benson, Director of Sustainability Research and Education discussed the changes to energy use on campus.
Benson said overall, the university has reduced total energy consumption on campus by 12.5 percent over the past seven years. He said this is notable because campus infrastructure, such as new buildings, has grown considerably.
New buildings are also being built to be more sustainable, including Union South, which was built from 83 percent recycled materials.
Another initiative has been moving to monitor heating and cooling in buildings. The university has added motion control centers that count the number of people in a room to manage energy output.
Some of the central concerns raised during the meeting included the relationship between policy change and donors in the midst of divestment.
“Five colleges around the nation have voted to divest, however no one with an endowment over $40 million has voted to divest,” Downs said. “The more money you have, the more complicated the question becomes given the larger donors you tend to have.”
Many attendees voiced that the university should serve as a leader and example for other colleges by taking a stance and pledging to divest.
Downs said the committee on climate change will hopefully deliver a report to the University Committee by December, and will consider feedback obtained at the meeting when drafting it.
The panel will host an additional discussion Thursday at 4 p.m. in Memorial Union.
