Cornell Pursues Earth Heat

Sustainability

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“The town of Ithaca and Tompkins County in general has been very supportive,” said Sarah Carson, director of the campus sustainability office.

However, with the limited land available in the region, the University has been forced to look outwards for sources of energy. Carson addressed the various effects that emerging climate laws have had on this objective.

“The changing regulatory landscape on the local and state level have been a pro and a con,” Carson said.

Carson stated that the University had no organized local, state or national program to align with when the carbon neutrality plan was set in 2007. Now that programs have been established, the University has had to retroactively adapt to the rapidly-changing climate legislature.

“The project development timeline is on a year cycle,” Carson said. “When the regulations are changing much more rapidly than that, it makes it a harder project.”

Cowen, Zhang and Carson all emphasized the substantial influence that public opinion has had on campus sustainability.

“[Sustainability] was initially a student-driven initiative,” Zhang said. The student organization Kyoto Now! began peaceful protests in April 2001 to pressure the administration to address the University’s carbon footprint. Later that month, an agreement was reached, which set new targets for reducing carbon emissions, initiated the publication of regular progress reports and emphasized the growing importance of developing on-campus sustainability projects.

Cowen served as a public relations advocate for the University’s geothermal project, highlighting the necessity of speaking to Ithaca citizens who may be skeptical of the project or opposed to its mission.

Carson mentioned a plan to integrate outsourced wind power by partnering with wind firms in rural upstate New York. However, Not In My Backyard, a term used to describe citizens opposed to land developments in their region or neighborhood, interfered with the project and led to it being scrapped.

Despite these factors, Carson said that the University is still on track to be carbon neutral by 2035.

“From an energy standpoint, a lot of things hinge on the success of the Earth Source Heat project, which is looking good,” Carson said. “We have a plan.”