[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 14 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E166-E167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LEWIS AND CLARK AND GLOBAL WARMING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 13, 2002

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my appreciation 
and admiration for the students of Lewis and Clark College, which is in 
my district and is my alma mater. Frustrated with the leadership of 
this country, these forward-looking students have decided to take the 
matter of climate change into their hands.
  In order to fight global warming, the students have voted to raise 
their annual student fees by $10 per student per year. In fact, in a 
voter turnout that's twice what we see for special elections for local 
governments, 83.3 percent of the students voted yes. The fee increase 
will raise enough money to make Lewis and Clark College compliant with 
the Kyoto treaty through the purchase of ``offsets'' from the Climate 
Trust, a non-profit organization. The offset projects that the new fee 
would support include a web-based commuter matching system that will 
reduce car traffic in Portland, investments in landfill gas recovery 
system, and helping to preserve forests on Native American lands in the 
Northwest.
  Studies at Lewis and Clark College have shown that increased parking 
fees, better transit, and a higher number of students living on campus 
have had a positive effect on the college's green house gas emissions. 
In this way,

[[Page E167]]

the college is far ahead of the rest of the country in realizing what 
we need to do to reduce our contribution to global warming. The United 
States is the single largest generator of greenhouse gases, 
contributing one quarter of the global total.
  Although the college's emissions are minimal, the students' actions 
are significant. Lewis and Clark is the first of what will be many 
colleges across the country developing a climate strategy. It is the 
collection of these individual actions that will make a difference and 
eventually shape our nation's policy. One can only hope that when 
President Bush presents the Administration's proposal on global warming 
tomorrow, it will include tough mandatory green house gas reductions.

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