Williams College 'Still In' on Paris Climate Agreement| 12:09PM / Friday, June 09, 2017 | |
 Williams President Adam Falk, inset, and the college's Environmental Center are 'still in' the Paris Climate Agreement. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams President Adam Falk is among the more than 1,200 governors, mayors, businesses, investors and higher education leaders from across the United States who declared their intent to continue to ensure that the United States remains a global leader in reducing carbon emissions.
Falk signed on to the "We Are Still In" statement earlier this week. The statement can be found online.
The "We Are Still In" statement says, in part, that "the Trump administration's announcement undermines a key pillar in the fight against climate change and damages the world's ability to avoid the most dangerous and costly effects of climate change. Importantly, it is also out of step with what is happening in the United States."
Falk said Williams' commitment to addressing climate change, outlined in a set of initiatives developed and approved by the board of trustees in 2015, will continue as the campus community works toward reducing carbon emissions by 2020. The initiatives include Williams achieving sustainable carbon neutrality by the end of 2020.
In the past year, Williams has made strides in reducing carbon emissions by investing in local solar energy projects, including partnering with the town of Williamstown to convert a capped landfill to a solar array that will produce enough renewable energy to provide electricity to all municipal buildings, the fire district and local school buildings. The project is set to come online this summer.
Additionally, all new construction on campus is being built to meet, at the minimum, LEED Gold standards, with many buildings often exceeding those sustainability performance standards.
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