OU agrees to fight global warming

The University of Oklahoma is among more than 280 colleges and universities nationally pledging to combat global warming.

OU, which aims to cut greenhouse emissions and be climate neutral by 2050, is the first state university to join the project sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

But other Oklahoma campuses also are looking at ways to go green, in part to cut energy bills.

"The University of Oklahoma feels a very strong sense of obligation to set a good example as responsible stewards of the environment,” OU President David Boren said in a statement.

Boren signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment earlier this year.

But OU also is responding to pressure from student groups to reduce global warming, said Eric Pollard, a senior political science major and member of several student environmental initiatives.

"It's definitely a growing issue on campus,” he said. "This is one of the greatest challenges of my generation.”

At a summit in Washington this week, higher education leaders and others met to collaborate and promote the Climate Commitment campaign.

"Where others see perils, these presidents and chancellors see promise,” said Bob Perkowitz, founder of the advocacy group ecoAmerica.

Boren said OU is working to secure more wind-generated power from Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. and is conducting energy audits of all buildings.

The OU campuses last year recycled more than 320 tons of paper, and ramped up use of vehicles fueled by natural gas, ethanol and electricity.

OU also was among the first universities to join the Chicago Climate Exchange, which uses a market-based system of buying and selling credits to find cost-effective ways to achieve reductions.

In March, former Vice President Al Gore spoke on campus about the merits of global warming science and the need to act now to slow the trend.

OU also is home to global warming skeptic David Deming, a geophysicist and professor who claims climate change is part of a natural earth cycle.

University of Central Oklahoma spokesman Charles Johnson said the Edmond campus, while not a member of the Climate Commitment pact, has been working for years to cut emissions.

UCO uses 100 percent wind power electricity, produces bio-diesel onsite, and was named a Green Power Partner by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"We upped the ante on climate change a long time ago, and we are leading the way when it comes to working toward becoming climate neutral,” UCO's Johnson said recently.