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Image provided by: Hobart and William Smith Colleges
4 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011 Campus Happenings HWS Campus Continues to \Go Greel1 99 By Ellen Harvey '12 Herald Contributor Photo Courtesy of 1WIP SymboliziDg 1he recent wind energy advancement and 1he Colleges' continUed efforts to promote eco-friendly methods, pinwheels lined the front lawn of ScandliDg Center. On November 15, 2011 Hobart and William Smith Colleges announced that electricity on campus was now 100 percent powered by wind, making it the first small liberal arts college in New York to have its electricity powered solely by wind. There are, as students have undoubtedly noticed, no newly built turbines on campus, so where exactly is this wind power coming from? · James Landi, Environmental Coordinator for the Colleges, explains, ''We were purchasing 5% of our electricity need from a New York State wind farm. This past summer HWS students, Maeve Donelly '13 and Noah Lucas '13, worked to look into alternative sources for energy. Their first idea was to have wind turbines on campus. This. was not feasible for the near future. They looked at a number of different solutions and came up with the most environmentally and economically viable solution, which was basically, if we can't bring wind onto campus, maybe we can increase our purchase of renewable energy ·credits from 5% to some larger amount.\ Working with Professor Thomas Drennan, Donelly and Lucas presented a proposal to the Colleges' Climate Task Force. Their proposal suggested buying national . energy credits . from wind farms in Texas and the Midwest. These credits had the benefit of being cheaper than the New York wind credits due to· greater availability of land and the higher wind potential of these regions. 'The environmental benefit is just as good buying from the Midwest or New York State,\ says Landi, \This may change in the future, but we're going to be evaluating the choice to use Midwest . wind credits every year, and determining what the best options are for the Colleges from an environmental and economic perspective.\ · While there are no turbines on campus, the money HWS has put forth to purchase credits allows wind power to enter the national grid. Without the purchasing of these credits, it would be much more difficult for these various wind farms to operate and provide energy for the nation. ''Wind power is zero . emission electricity,\ Landi explains, \Our electricity · consumption accounted for about one quarter of our gre'en house gas inventory. That is everything from keeping the lights on to running refrigerators and powering computers. By buying energy credits we have eliminated emissions from electricity, so we cut a quarter of our green house gases. As a result, we are now about three years ahead of the Colleges' Climate Action Plan.\ Energy efficiency, though, is still key on campus. Over the past two years, HWS had reduced its energy by ten percent and the Colleges are working to continue that reduction. \Reducing our energy consumption has saved us significant money in buying thEse energy credits, and is reducing the overall cost of powering the Colleges,\ notes Landi, \Our abi6.ty to do this relies on our ability to reduce energy consumption on campus.\ Landi and his Eco-Reps, a group of student leaders who work to reduce waste around camp·Js; are now· focusing their attention on the energy used to heat campus. This largely gas-powered system contributes to one third of the Colleges' emissions. The Buildings and Grounds climate and energy team have been working in conjunction with Landi to ensure optimum efficiency of the energy used on campus. . \About 10 to 15 percent of energy consumed in the buildings is related to occupant behavior. The next frontier is engaging our different buildings and the foiks who live, work, or leani in them to help usreduce energy consumption and enhance our environmental · performance in those buildings.~ It is a constant effort to make students and faculty more aware of their energy consumption and waste habits, but with the shift to 100 percent wind-powered electricity, HWS is well on its way to reaching its goal of energy neutrality by 2025. Fisher Center's Presentation of The Garden Sparks Awareness The Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men hosted a showing of the film, The Garden, by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. The showing occurred on Wednesday, November 16 in the Geneva Room on the second floor of the Warren Huntington Library from 7 p.m. to 9p.m, . The Leak Kitchen, an organic restaurant, located at 1 Franklin Street, a 15 minute walk from HWS campus, hosted the Fisher Center dinner for all invited guests and panelists, including a promoter of local food in Ithaca, Elisabeth Karabinakis; organic farmer and novelist, Elisabeth Henderson; and an HWS faculty member, Jessica Hayes-Conroy. The dinner included a vegetarian-style meal of salad, soup and entree, all gluten-free and locally grown, . according to Cadence Whittier, the Interim Director at the Fisher Center. By Meghan Gaucher '14 Herald Contributor Katie LopezofThe Garden poses with an armload offresh com leaves. The Garden document ary captures the tragic story of the farmers and their families who fought to reclaiQJ. the land that was taken from them by Ralph Horowitz, former partner with the Alameda-Barbara Investment Company in 2006. The gardeners were denied the City Council's promise to let them keep the land after they raised 16.4 million dollars in 60 days. Now, more than ever, the Geneva community is looking toward replenishing sustainable living. Whittier kicked off the panel with a quote from an L.A farmer in the film: 'The Garden was about a multiplicity of things.\ The documentary not only highlighted the simple subject of food, but the intricacy in which food, food production and the people involved are woven. ''What the L.A land claim boils down to is the simplicity of life,\ Karabinakis responds. The discussion touched on the race, class and political issues involving agriculture. The Fisher Center continued its theme of \Digesting Gender: The Politics of Food\ through The Garden showing-the final event of the 2011 semester. ·
