An absolutely perfect sunny New England day without even a band of brown on the horizon.
Even the Princeton Review knows there is green to be made in the green world. This year, the fame Princeton Review College Guides ratings introduced the Green Rating Honor Roll. Eleven schools were chosen for their perfect scores - Bravo!
The criteria is pretty good and hats off to the Review for doing this. It is wonderful to see what our academic institutions are doing to help fight climate change. After all, it is here where scientists are molded and much of the evidence for climate change and global warming is gathered. The peak of scientific information begins at colleges and universities only to filter down to the mainstream where skeptics further water down the information. And then we get it. No wonder climate change is not taken seriously by so many.
Five of the 11 schools are in New England. One of the schools that shares the top spot is the University of New Hampshire. Despite the lowest state funding in the U.S., UNH has managed this great honor. (maybe as a desperate way to save money?) UNH has the first Sustainability program in the country.
UNH has always been an oasis and often in stark contrast to the reputation in the rest of the state. The State Legislators often ignore progressive environmental and health bills that pass in the neighboring New England States. Never mind the State motto Live Free or Die, the other mantra is "We'll fix it when it breaks". The problem is, climate change doesn't work that way. UNH has made lemonade out of lemons despite a state in deficit and a Governor who just built an 11,000 square foot house (yes, that's right) with millions of dollars of outdoor landscaping.
Congratulations to the top 11 green schools and all the others in the running. Kudos to all the hard working academic schools that continue to set an example of how we should consider our existence and behavior in the world. What would we do without them?
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