ACUHO-I News Blog

There’s a lot of garbage being thrown around at a political convention. No, really. Actual garbage. Fortunately, as The Chronicle of Higher Education reports, more than 450 students, faculty, and staff from Colorado State University have volunteered to help sort mountains of garbage; separating plastic from paper and the compostables from the recyclables.

It’s commitment like this that help CSU get named as one of the country’s “greenest” campuses by Newsweek magazine. And, perhaps, some aspiring political science major will be able to add this experience to his or her resume as an introduction to the dirty business of politics.

Last week when Congress passed all the provisions of the Higher Education Sustainability Act (HESA), it opened the doors for a “University Sustainability Grants Program” that will be operated through the United States Department of Education. It currently awaits President Bush’s signature.

The program will make grants available to higher education institutions to develop, implement, and evaluate sustainability curricula, practices, and academic programs. It is the first new federal enviornmental education funding program authorized in 18 years. It also directs the DOE to hold a national summit of higher education sustainability experts, federal agency staff, and business leaders to identify best practices and opportunities collaboration. Background on the legislation can be found here.

Patty Murray, the democratic senator from Washington who sponsored the bill, said in a press release, “Colleges are a natural breeding ground for the kind of innovation we need to move to new enviornmentally-friendly energy sources… These grants will help college students take the reins of the govement to make energy last longer and have less of an impact on our environment.”

How would you utilize a grant on your campus? Hit the “comments” and share.

[Links]
Campaign for Environmental Literacy
National Council for Science and the Environment