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Opinion | How the university's 'Sustainability Commitments' will affect you

Ian Winner & Green Oxford Officers, winnerim@muohio.edu

Green Oxford has compiled a list of key points from the recent university Sustainability Commitments. We feel these are the most relevant parts of the plan that will affect the student body. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do! For the full document, visit: http://www.units.muohio.edu/sustainability/

--20 percent reduction in energy consumption by 2014

--Reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions at least 20 percent by 2020

--Produce or purchase at least 17 percent of our electrical power from renewable sources by 2020, helping reduce Miami's overall carbon footprint by 12 percent in that same time period.

--Displace coal as an on-campus energy source by 2025

--Combine technologies to reduce carbon emissions to reduce carbon emissions per gross square foot by 20 percent by 2020 and by 50 percent by 2030.

--The development of a new sustainability co-major that spans across the College of Arts and Science, School of Fine Arts and the Farmer School of Business. A proposal is underway in the School of Engineering and Applied Science to create a new co-major on Energy.

--Appointed a Sustainability Coordinator and a Sustainability Committee

--All new buildings and major renovations will have a minimum LEED Silver certification.

--Continue optimizing the scheduling of evening and weekend activities in most energy-efficient buildings to reduce university energy costs.

--Re-energize and expand the Miami University recycling program by composting all dining hall waste.

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--Implementation of a bike lane network and conveniently locate bicycle storage by 2012.

--Integrate Miami Metro service into a fully public, regional transportation system and expand ridership to and from the Oxford campus significantly by 2015.

--Reduce our transportation-related carbon footprint 20 to 30 percent by 2020.