[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 96 (Friday, July 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1494]]
              HIGHER EDUCATION SUSTAINABILITY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 2005

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the ``Higher 
Education Sustainability Act of 2005,'' which would authorize $50 
million for 25 Sustainability Education Programs across the country to 
develop and implement integrated environmental, economic, and social 
sustainability programs. Each Sustainability Program will focus on 
multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach at institutions of 
higher education.
  Sustainable development practices are being advanced by hundreds of 
U.S. cities and companies and through a variety of international 
agencies including the United Nations and the World Business Council 
for Sustainable Development. As population growth, urban development 
and extreme weather incidents place great stress on ecosystems around 
the globe, the need for developing innovative and successful 
sustainable development practices becomes critical to sustaining our 
economic competitiveness, improving our environmental health and 
creating more livable communities.
  In my home State of Oregon, we have many great examples of 
sustainable development and livable communities. Portland State 
University, located in my hometown, provides an excellent example of 
how to incorporate sustainability throughout the curriculum. Faculty 
from the departments of social sciences, life sciences, physical 
sciences, humanities, as well as the professional schools have been 
working to incorporate sustainability principles in their coursework 
and research.
  Portland State University's Sustainability Initiative has placed a 
high priority on Green Buildings on campus that use smart technology to 
improve operational performance and produce significant savings. The 
City of Portland awarded PSU's, Stephen Epler Residence Hall and 
Broadway Housing with the Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable 
Tomorrow award for sustainable stormwater management. The Epler 
buildings harvests rainwater from the roof for use in restrooms and 
features low-flow water fixtures for showers and toilets resulting in 
cost savings of $5,000 each year. The Broadway Housing features 20,000 
square feet of an ``ecoroof,'' one of the largest in a dense urban 
environment. Faculty and students designed a monitoring program to 
measure impacts of the ecoroof and preliminary studies show a 21 
percent reduction in runoff. This is an exemplary example of how 
faculty uses the buildings as real laboratories.
  These innovations are just a few among many that are already underway 
in colleges and universities across the nation. This legislation will 
ensure that we can extend these innovations to institutions of higher 
learning across the country. I look forward to working with my 
colleagues to pass this bill and make a commitment to making our 
educational communities more sustainable and livable.

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