Student Assembly Environmental Committee

Attendance:

Here: Simeon, Emma, Devra, Thea and Mike

Excused: Devra, Aileen, Maddy

Not: JP, Stefan

Agenda

Announcements:

-Reschedule next week’s meeting� I will send a doodle!

-Update: Plastic Bag Tax Resolution coming up soon

-Update: KyotoNOW! Next week � Update: GRF Resolution 15 passed � Mr. Kappell advertising?

Business � Question and Answer with Student Trustee Evensen!

Minutes

Announcements: � Reschedule next week’s meeting� I will send a doodle! � Update: Plastic Bag Tax Resolution coming up soon o Make sure money goes to GRF or something � Update: KyotoNOW! Next week o Doodle will be sent out ASAP o We need to remain unbiased, ask reps to leave room when we vote o Final version of resolution should be sent to everyone before they come o Ask her to RSVP with number of reps � Update: GRF Resolution 15 passed � Mr. Kappell o Email Mona and Maya from Hub- Emma will email them once we have a blurb and a room � Advertise � Send a google survey o Thea will write a short blurb about Mr. Kappell and spread the word to her environmentally conscious friends o Quarter Cards, Student Assembly press release, email to students, Outreach event for SA members — Sarah o R25 preferably for a small, big lecture hall (Kauffman auditorium), google survey for questions — Simeon o Mike will talk to Mr. Kappel about his topics o Tuesday 27th we will go thru questions the hub gives us (google doc) o Someone else- help design quarter cards Business Question and Answer with Student Trustee Evensen! � Doing PhD on discourse about fracking as well as teaching a FWS � Prefers calling it “natural gas development” � Problems with fracking o Physical process has negative connotations o When young men come into town to frack -→ increase in STIs, crime rates (people don’t normally think about this) � Opinion? o None o He tries to teach ethics about fracking o How can you weight habitat destruction against light, noise pollution, etc? o His position is that people should be well-informed, there should be transparency � What does he think Cornell is going to do? o The natural gas at cornell is a “gift from god” according to one of the trustees � We should frack according to him o If NYS says fracking is allowed, Skorton and trustees will probably debate � But we would have to be long-term sustainable � This probably isn’t a sustainable business model We would gain a little money and 3–4 years, we would be static � Should Cornell divert use of fossil fuels to natural gas (if fracking was determined to not actually be that bad)? o Our power plant here runs entirely on natural gas! As of a year or two ago o We are not mining less coal because we are switching to natural gas � Coal is just getting shipped to the rest of the world � Still coal will affect global climate change o Consider the individuals that would be affected if we started fracking on Cornell property: � Asthma in children � Pros and Cons o Compiling a paper from 800 newspaper articles that he read about impacts of fracking o In general: � Economic- good effects Cheap Creation of jobs Money coming in from leases and royalties Creation of more local businesses � Decreases in property value because no one wants to live there, and negative impacts of tourism — both negatives � Social- bad effects Community “character” Distribution of income Energy independence Light pollution Recreation Public safety, increases in crime, decreases in pedestrian safety Increased traffic � Environmental- bad effects Air quality Drinking water quality Earthquakes Radioactive materials Forest fragmentation Soil erosion Wildlife, aquatic life � But clean energy is a positive � What do you think we should do about fracking? o People have pre-formed opinions and are uninformed o Social norms that have evolved around these kinds of issues o We are interested in education/outreach � We need an unbiased way of learning about this � Most people who talk about this are trying to tell their points of view � Even the professors who speak on this on campus are so extreme in favor or against o One group on campus with least biased view: Cornell Cooperative Extension � Public engagement is their main mission � Working with them would be good if we wanted to do outreach o Maybe we could try to make a panel � What role should students play in pressuring the University? o KyotoNOW!’s divestment plan is another issue that doesn’t directly affect us/ is intangible � Investment committee’s view: we are not going to put our money in a place that is going to negatively affect our endowment � Is it relatively reasonable to divert investments from coal to sustainable energy? o We could! But the investment committee wouldn’t actually do it unless it doesn’t give them less money (more or the same) o Strongest case for university to make a change fossil fuel divestment if there was something else positive to invest in � Anecdote o He’s happy to work on an issue that people care about � Overall: o Appropriate response from us is role in education o It will be hard to have people learn about the issue, but it would be a valiant effort to try o Nov 29 DEC will have to let NYS know more about their plans � Probably should ask Mr. Kappel about this