UC named one of the top 10 "coolest" schools in battle against global warming

Sierra Magazine, in its November/December 2007 issue, has named the UC system one of America's Top 10 "coolest" schools for its efforts to stop global warming. UC ranked No. 4 on Sierra Club magazine's inaugural listing of the nation's greenest campuses.

UC was the highest-ranked public university — and the only California institution — on the list, which was led by Oberlin College. Harvard University was second and Warren Wilson College was third.

"The University of California system is honored that Sierra Magazine has recognized the significant impact that our sustainability policy is making," said Matthew St.Clair, UC's systemwide sustainability manager. "Our sustainability policy has been a model for other universities, and each of our 10 campuses shares their strengths with one another to improve the university's environmental practices across the board."

UC's sustainability policy officially began covering green building design and clean energy standards in 2004. It expanded in 2006 to include sustainable transportation practices and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. This year, climate protection practices, green building renovations, sustainable operations and maintenance, waste reduction and environmentally preferable purchasing were added to UC's menu of green business strategies.

Sierra Magazine highlighted several actions UC has taken to make itself greener:

- The UC system has pledged to generate 10 megawatts of renewable power (enough to power about 7,500 homes) by 2014, increase use of low-to-zero-emission vehicles by 50 percent by 2010, and achieve zero waste by 2020 at its 10 campuses

- UCLA has fought pollution-producing gridlock with its bicycle master plan - UC Davis has improved its agricultural sustainability and conducted environmental educational outreach to local junior high school students

- UC Merced has received kudos for its green building

- UC Berkeley has a certified organic kitchen at one of its dining halls and a new major in society and the environment.

"When such a large and important educational institution takes such significant, systemic steps toward addressing global warming it can't help but influence the thinking of many tens of thousands of students," said Bob Sipchen, the magazine’s editor-in-chief. "If students carry these strong environmental values back to their communities and into their careers, UC's initiative will reverberate globally."