The President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality, charged with recommending a timeline and pathway for U-M to achieve net zero emissions, plans to release draft recommendations for public comment before the end of the fall 2020 semester.
The commission expects to submit its final recommendations to President Mark Schlissel in February 2021. Originally scheduled to conclude its process at the end of this year, it is extending its timeline for final recommendations to more thoroughly consider the evolving, complex scope of the U-M greenhouse gas-reduction analyses.
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The commission is inviting U-M community members to submit public comments on the coming draft recommendations and the analyses developed for the commission’s consideration.
“Achieving carbon neutrality is a complex and multifaceted process. By extending the commission’s original timeline for final recommendations, we will be better positioned to deliver a comprehensive set of scalable and transferable recommendations,” explained PCCN co-chairs and professors Stephen Forrest and Jennifer Haverkamp.
“We also see the revised February date as giving interested members of the U-M community more time to absorb the report contents and recommendations, and we look forward to reviewing their feedback on forthcoming draft recommendations.”
While the commission continues on track toward its mandate’s milestones while meeting virtually, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic disrupted several scheduled in-person sessions that were scheduled to occur over the summer.
Schlissel has approved the amended timeline. U-M community members will be able to review the commission’s draft recommendations and contribute feedback via the commission’s public comments portal in the weeks between the expected release of draft recommendations and submission of the final report.
The commission recently released the final reports it received from each of its internal analysis teams, which examined distinct but interconnected issues critical to U-M reducing its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. Teams were staffed by student and faculty experts. Although their final reports are informing the commission’s analysis, their proposed recommendations may not necessarily be adopted by the PCCN.
Elliott Brannon
Although the impending climate catastrophe is not mentioned in this article, it is presumably the impetus for the Commission and addressing it may require slightly more expansive solutions than achieving carbon neutrality. Climate issues intersect with housing, racial justice, and criminal justice in complex ways. I, however, would be wary of asking this President’s Commission to consider these issues since the greater complexity may cause a further delay.
Nikesh Dahal
Last time when I signed up for a public meeting organized by the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality (PCCN) I was deeply frustrated. This event was advertised as a space where the PCCN would receive recommendations and comments from the broader UM community about how we can move swiftly towards carbon neutrality. However, we spent the majority of that meeting listening to the PCCN talk about how many acreage of land UM owns by leaving less than 10 minutes for community feedback/questions. Thus, I am extremely skeptic of the PCCN’s argument for asking more time for community feedback as a logic for extension.