Christina Brown and Mike Lloyd

U.Va. declines to sign climate commitment

The University issued a statement yesterday indicating it will not sign the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, citing practicality concerns. The commitment intends to address global warming by asking schools across the country to "neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate," according to the commitment's mission statement. According to the University's statement, administrators believe the commitment does not significantly reflect the agreement reached among college and university presidents but instead was formed by a group of environmental activists and companies that sell environmental services. Anthony Cortese, president of non-profit environmental group Second Nature and a co-organizer of the commitment, said this notion "is not correct." "There have been no corporate businesses that have provided in any way to the Presidents Climate Commitment," Cortese said. Currently, 146 colleges and universities have agreed to sign the commitment out of the 2,700 asked.