This week at the Rose/Becker Café, a panel of professionals answered any and all questions students had regarding environmental sustainability and environmental economics. They touched on topics ranging from fracking in Ithaca to nuclear waste in France to the pollution levels in Beijing. However, I was most intrigued by the points they brought up about the actions Cornell University has taken to do their part as a leading institution and global leader.

Cornell aims to be a carbon-neutral campus by 2035.

            This goal places our university at the forefront of collegiate environmental activism. Cornell already uses lake-source cooling; instead of using a traditional air conditioning unit to cool our (rare) warm days, they pump cool water from the surrounding lakes into pipes to cool our university. I didn’t even know that was possible! What’s more, I would be willing to bet that most students don’t know this themselves.

Additionally, Cornell is currently trying to utilize geothermal heating to propel them to the 20-year goal. This process would use natural heat from the earth’s core to warm campus. Considering Ithaca’s notoriously painful winters, this would be a milestone for both our university and environmental sustainability as a field.

Cornell has taken revolutionary steps to protect our environment, and it makes me that much prouder to be a Cornellian!