In the coming months, Vassar will make critical decisions about its energy infrastructure, which will determine its fossil fuel emissions and environmental impact for years to come. In order to fulfill its 2016 commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, Vassar must make major changes to college policy and infrastructure. Making these changes will require persistent, concerted action from administrators, faculty, and students— a feat that has historically proven difficult. During the fall semester, Vassar’s new Climate Action and Sustainability Committee (CASC) was hampered by absences and communication failures. This semester, meetings and attendance have increased largely due to actions that we, Students for Equitable Environmental Decisions (SEED), have taken to hold members accountable to their responsibilities to CASC. However, we are concerned CASC will not be quick enough in making the changes necessary to meet our 2030 deadline. Currently, the committee is in the process of approving an energy service contract and a net zero energy study specifying how the campus can become carbon neutral, the outcomes of which will be crucial in determining the future of Vassar’s Central Heating Plant—the fulcrum of energy use on campus. In order to promote transparency and increase student awareness of ongoing climate action our campus, we have outlined a brief history of the sustainability efforts of students, faculty, alumni, and the administration, as well as how events are set to progress in the future. Vassar is at a critical crossroads on its path towards carbon neutrality. Campus involvement on these issues is crucial to ensuring Vassar fulfills its obligation to its community and to the planet.
A Brief History
Much of the Vassar’s administration’s increasing environmental awareness in recent years can be attributed to activism by Vassar’s student-run Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign. In 2016, DivestVC garnered widespread support for fossil fuel divestment, as illustrated by an overwhelmingly favorable VSA student referendum and significant alumni endorsement. Later that year, inaction by the administration prompted a five-day sit-in outside former Vassar President Catherine “Cappy” Hill’s office, until she agreed to meet with students from DivestVC. Although President Hill refused to divest, she and the Board of Trustees endorsed a Climate Action Plan in the Spring of 2016 which outlined a path of action for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Although DivestVC presented a second divestment proposal in Fall 2017, addressing the trustees’ concerns about politicizing the endowment and fiduciary duty, the proposal was still unanimously rejected by the Trustee Investment Responsibility Committee. Instead, the committee recommended increasing focus on campus sustainability.
With the Board of Trustees firmly against divestment, DivestVC decided to rebrand as Students for Equitable Environmental Decisions (SEED) in order to expand its mission and pursue climate action on campus, functioning as a hub for sustainability communication and action at Vassar. In the spring of 2017, SEED helped establish the joint administrative Climate Action and Sustainability Committee (CASC) to replace the previous Sustainability Committee, which lacked the authority of senior administrators. CASC has given students and faculty unprecedented abilities to affect institution-scale environmental policy decisions and implement the Climate Action Plan. Not only does CASC have longer and more frequent meetings than the Sustainability Committee, but it now includes important decision-makers from Facilities and Finance, with increased student and faculty representation.
CASC: Challenges and Success
Despite the successful formation of CASC and promising talks to bridge the communication gaps between students, faculty, and the administration, CASC’s progress last semester was hindered by absences, drawn-out deadlines, and lack of communication, which effectively shut out many members of the committee. Further progress on implementing the climate action plan ground to a halt. These struggles are exemplified by the six-month (and counting) vacancy of the Sustainability Director position, despite notice given by the previous director a month in advance. This is unacceptable during such a critical period of decision-making for the future of Vassar’s sustainability. Additionally, members from Facilities and Finance consistently fail to attend meetings, so agenda items dragged on for weeks.
On multiple occasions, CASC members requested documents necessary for decision-making from Facilities and Operations. These requests were effectively ignored; agreed to and ignored; fulfilled days late; or fulfilled the night before a meeting, leaving no time for documents to be reviewed. When Facilities fails to share information, other committee members are prevented from fully participating in discussions and giving feedback on executive decisions. In other instances, Facilities has made unilateral energy and sustainability decisions without consulting CASC. Seeking a consulting firm to make major energy upgrades, Facilities did not include CASC in developing the initial call for proposals. Because there was no specific language directing proposals to consider upgrades consistent with our carbon neutrality plan, the committee was forced by default to choose the only firm which was able to deliver renewable technology. Furthermore, Facilities hired an energy manager following a grant from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, even though CASC members asked repeatedly for information about the hire and expressed doubt in the capabilities of the candidate who, in their position within Facilities, did not adequately fulfill the deliverables of their previous grant.
However, the past few months have shown some promise to remedy CASC’s inefficiency. Members of the administration have been receptive to student and faculty concerns and willing to direct change. This semester, Marianne Begemann, Dean of Strategic Planning and one of the strongest proponents for campus sustainability, increased the frequency and duration of CASC meetings to address collective frustration about the committee’s lack of progress. President Bradley also met with SEED and senior college officers to discuss how the committee could be more effective. She has actively demonstrated the importance of CASC with her attendance at many of the meetings, as well as her expectation of Facilities to prioritize sustainability and participate in CASC. Since then, meeting attendance has improved, as well as communication between key members, and the committee is currently working on its first major contract—aiming to cut Vassar’s emissions by more than one third. President Bradley has also implicitly reaffirmed our commitment to sustainability by promising to present a carbon neutrality proposal to the trustees by October 2019.
While Vassar is undoubtedly the most focused on climate action it has ever been, we are reluctant to embrace this success without some reservation. CASC’s power as a decision making body is still largely untested, and its authority continues to face subversion by administrators who make important decisions without approval of the committee. President Bradley and other members have expressed concern about the potential cost of meeting our carbon neutrality commitment, and it remains to be seen whether the the committee will lobby President Bradley for the level of investment in renewable infrastructure Vassar requires.
Energy and Central Heating Plans
Vassar is currently working with an energy consulting firm, Ecosystem, to update our energy and heating infrastructure towards carbon neutrality. The process will occur in two parts. The first is an Energy Service Contract (ESCO), which is currently reaching the final stages of approval. Under this contract, Vassar will hire Ecosystem to perform the proposed upgrades, and unlike a typical Energy Service Contract, the contract structure allows Vassar to retain the savings from reduced energy consumption. Over approximately ten years, these investments will pay for themselves, resulting in no net cost to the college. The second part of Ecosystem’s work will focus on replacing the Central Heating Plant and transitioning Vassar to renewable energy. Vassar’s Central Heating Plant, which is largely powered by natural gas, is responsible for 39% of the school’s carbon emissions as of 2015. Because of the long lifespan and payback period of investments, Vassar must commit fully to carbon neutral infrastructure in the coming months or else incur significant losses, if forced to change infrastructure again to fulfill its 2030 deadline.
One proposal for replacing fossil fuel-based central heating is a method called cogeneration (otherwise known as cogen), which uses steam to generate heat and electricity. Implementing cogen would revitalize the Central Heating Plant, committing us to fossil fuel infrastructure for at least the next ten years. However, it also offers the college a reliable source of heat and energy that both increases our energy efficiency and reduces cost. Investment in cogen would provide cheaper electricity, consequently increasing the viability of electrically powered ground source heat pumps (a leading technology in renewable heating), allowing Vassar to work more quickly towards installing heat pumps for all buildings. This would eventually eliminate the need for centralized heating altogether, transitioning the Central Heating Plant to a backup energy source run on renewable biofuel and eventually biogas. By this time, the college should be able to fulfill its heating and energy needs through a combination of a biofuel-based central heating plant and the electrical grid, which in New York State is projected to be 50% renewable by 2030. The benefits of cogen present an appealing plan for the administration to transition its current infrastructure towards carbon neutrality, albeit at a slower pace and with additional, complex risks. If any of these predictions are not realized, both Vassar’s carbon neutrality commitment and its energy investments will be put in jeopardy.
One of the most significant risks is a failure by New York to meet its goal of a 50% renewable energy grid by 2030: in this case, Vassar could not use this electricity to replace the Central Heating Plant without increasing emissions. Although Governor Cuomo has made ambitious promises to accelerate this transition, relying the grid with cogen removes Vassar’s option to invest in its own renewable electricity in the next ten years, without incurring losses on the investment in cogen. Another glaring issue is that biofuels are not carbon neutral. While Vassar has identified a responsible biofuel source utilizing timber waste, its use would still leave us with a significant carbon footprint. Additionally, biogas, the substitute for natural gas and an eventual option to power the cogen system, is not currently available for mass market. If it is to become an economical source of energy for Vassar, rapid development of this technology is needed. So while the plan may initially save money, investing in cogen leaves the outcome of our carbon neutrality commitment to chance, and introduces the very real risk of ballooning expenses due a state or federal tax on carbon emissions within the next ten years.
Looking Forward
As SEED, we understand that achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 is in the best interest of students, alumni, and Vassar as an institution. The stakes of the climate crisis and the cost of inaction are too high to ignore. The window to mitigate the worst effects is closing at an alarming rate. We understand that this is an ambitious goal, but by no means an impossible one. As some of our peer institutions have already achieved carbon neutrality, the groundwork has been laid for us to move towards our goal. However, it will not happen without the unwavering support of every part of the college: students, alumni, faculty, administrators, and staff. Now more than ever, the Vassar community must take responsibility for the actions of the institution to launch Vassar into a more sustainable future.
