Summary

This report develops proposals for Rice University that both foster an active commitment towards preserving the health of the natural environment and enhances Rice's position as a community and intellectual leader in this area. It specifically looks at bringing Rice in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, which will require a decrease of 5,040 tons of carbon from the university's projected 2010 emission level, as estimated by last year's University 303 class. We argue that in order to increase the likelihood of successful action, proper procedures and channels in the university structure must be developed which are able to facilitate the passage of environmentally focused proposals.

We examine three central sections of the university. First, we develop basic descriptions of their current functions and the procedures that may cause problems for the proposal of environmental initiatives. We then look at possible steps the university can take to overcome these impediments. Our findings include:

Organizational Management

Problems

• Lack of a person with authority able to speak solely for environmental issues
• Conflicts of interest in departments during the appropriation process that work against pursuing environmental proposals
  Solution
• Create a university position, reporting directly to the president, that has the authority to impact budget and policy decisions in a pro-environmental direction

Budget

Problems

• Lack of a direct way to initiate a budget proposal solely based upon its environmental merit
• Lack of budget criteria that consider the environmental impact of proposals

Solutions

• Create a specific budget criterion which considers proposals in terms of their environmental impact
• Create space in the operating budget to pay the salary for the position mentioned above

Formal Environmental Policy

Problem

• Not actively working towards the ten key pro-environmental commitments Rice made 1996 with its signing of the Talloires Declaration
  Solutions
• Develop and implement an explicit campus-wide environmental policy
• Adopt an Environmental Management System to improve the administration's ability to reach environmental goals and commitments.

Once the internal structure of the university is more open to environmentally based proposals, Rice can consider larger solutions that address specific problems. To most efficiently reduce Rice's composite CO2 emissions we propose two mitigatory solutions.

Mitigation Solutions

• Purchase and develop tree farms able to offset Rice's CO2 emissions by the amount specified in the Kyoto Protocol
• Research emerging mitigation technologies including the permanent sequestering of CO2 in abandoned mines, aquifers, or oceans.

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