Commission battling global warming on campus

By Tiffany Hill

Craig Coleman is cataloging the effects of climate change at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa that could result in making the campus more environmentally friendly, turning it into a model for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"It's a process we're going through to identify what contributions of greenhouse gases the university is emitting into the atmosphere," said Coleman, an oceanography graduate student heading the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Project. The project was implemented through the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, a nationwide initiative to curb climate change.

The Greenhouse Gas Inventory Project was one of the first initiatives of the university's Manoa Climate Change Commission, established in February by former chancellor Denise Konan.

"The first item of business was to establish a greenhouse emissions inventory for UH," said Mary Tiles, chair of the philosophy department and vice-chair of the commission. "This required getting as much information as we can about our energy use."

Coleman explained that the inventory includes data on direct and indirect emissions of the campus. "Direct emissions are fuel, diesel generator fuel and fuel to heat water," Coleman said. "Indirect emissions are from electricity."

He has been working on gathering the data for five months and hopes to present to UH and the state his team's findings by the end of the year. In addition to collecting this data, Coleman said he is also hoping to get an estimate of the commute-related emissions for students, faculty and staff driving to and from campus and emissions from university air travel.

"There's a general protocol that is a guide for most large organizations (such as the university)," Coleman said. "They recommend an online survey and evaluation." He added that this information will only be an estimate for the university but will be helpful nonetheless.

"We want to know how big an impact the campus is making," Tiles said. "We don't know until we get the data."

She said UH is also in the process of hiring a permanent staff position to manage the energy and utilities used on campus, especially electricity and water.

Changing the state of climate change

Also taking action to curb the damage of climate change in the state is Lorenz Magaard. Magaard is a professor of oceanography at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and is also the chair of the Manoa Climate Change Commission and the director of the International Center for Climate and Society.

Last week he received a letter announcing his selection as part of the state's 10-member Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Task Force, a state project approved last Legislative session to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The task force will come up a plan to reduce, by January 1, 2020, the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the state below or at the estimated level of emissions from 1990.

"There are two ways to deal with climate change: adaptation (to the effects of climate change) or to fight climate change itself," Magaard said. He explained that humans can adapt and change their lifestyle according to the change brought on by global warming or fight against and further prevent more destruction.

The task force's first item on the agenda is to develop and propose a plan and regulatory scheme for implemented reduction of carbon dioxide. Magaard said that Hawai‘i is planning to implement a plan of action based off the Kyoto Protocol, an international greenhouse emissions treaty. He added that California has already established a similar greenhouse emissions reduction strategy, Hawai‘i hoping to follow their success.

"In Hawai‘i the most important thing resulting from climate change is the change in sea level," Magaard said. He explained that one century ago the sea level rose one foot per century. It has now increased to two or more feet per century. And living on islands where sea level is zero, it will certainly have a huge impact. "Also, one must realize that economical development in Hawai‘i is at the coastline, especially for tourism."

Environmental help from Hawaiian Electric

Extending a helpful hand toward the university's initiatives to better the environment is Hawaiian Electric Co., which formed a partnership with the Manoa Climate Change Commission in April. The first week of school, HECO donated $25,000 to the commission to help fund the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Project.

"HECO is working with the university to understand how much energy is being consumed and where," said Darren Pai, spokesperson for Hawaiian Electric.

"HECO has helped (UH) install meters to let the university know where energy is being consumed the most, at what buildings and when it is being consumed the most," Pai said. "You can't manage what you can't measure."

Coleman said HECO has been of enormous help in collecting data for the campus's use of electricity and natural gas.

Hawaiian Electric has helped the university install meters to monitor energy consumption, also aiding the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Project. Pai said the partnership has resulted in the university saving several thousand dollars in rebates for changing light bulbs and installing air conditioning. HECO also has a representative on the state's climate change task force.

Everybody can make a difference

Coleman, Tiles and Magaard all agree that student involvement is critical to the university's success in fighting climate change.

"It has become a general responsibility of all people to start accounting for their (greenhouse gas) emissions and to teach other Hawai‘i-based organizations," Coleman said. "A student who is aware of these issues will not only be doing the planet well but also be in a better place to get hired."

He stated that climate change touches every aspect of life, including agriculture, tourism, the design of cities and the way that businesses run themselves. "I think it's really important for students to understand that climate change is going to affect the jobs they seek as businesses are going to start thinking about their emissions."

Tiles said that there are many ways to get involved to combat climate change on campus. She added that the M?noa Climate Change Commission is always looking for ways to establish and implement new projects, including working with the UHM Sustainability Council.

Some projects that students can become involved in are the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Project, Sustainable Saunders, establishing paper and bottle recycling sites at UH and implementing increased use of the Mobile HI-5 Redemption Center on campus, in which Honolulu Recovery Systems brings a recycling truck to UH.

Tiles added that she hopes to see more students become involved through more education events discussing climate change and how it affects everyone.

"There hasn't been a period in history where we've had the amount of carbon dioxide concentration that we have now," Tiles said. She added that although everyone knows we are experiencing high levels of greenhouses gases, what that implies is still controversial to many people.

"We are in a realm where we don't know what to expect," Tiles said. "But you can't wait until you know everything before you make sensible decisions."

According to Magaard, individuals can make a difference. "Everybody can contribute to mitigation of climate change," he said. "And we really mean everybody."