STAFF EDITORIAL

Author: [no author name found]

Beyond the Parking Impasse

"Think blue, act green." This modified version of a popular environmental adage, coined by the College's Sustainable Campus Coordinator Connie Bisson and Pam Fogg of College Advancement, is doubly significant this year. First, Sunday marked Earth Day, a celebration of the natural environment and reminder of the sometimes harmful consequences of man's place in it. Second, the College's ambitious plan for the expansion of its physical plant makes thinking blue and acting green an even more urgent task.

The growth of the College since the late 1990s has been met with both criticism and praise. On the one hand, our architectural achievements are recognized nationally for their use of sustainable building practices and materials. Middlebury remains a leader in its adherence to environmental building principles, and has one building, Bicentennial Hall, and one project, the deconstruction and recycling of the Old Science Center, to show for it. But our building history is not completely without contradictions. Numerous projects, including those that are the most celebrated, have met with stiff resistance within the College and local communities. Of these, the expansion of campus parking lots, has been especially contentious. Some members of the College and town communities have called for bans on student vehicles, a ban that would most likely apply to first-year students.

Banning parking, however, is not a remedy for all of our expansion woes. Nor should parking alone be considered foremost on the list of environmental concerns that we currently face. These include, among others, our declining rate of recycling, a voracious appetite for paper and energy use, which, despite the environmental practices used in the construction of our newest buildings, will stand only to increase once those are completed.

The Board of Trustees in 1995 adopted a statement affirming the College's commitment to environmental stewardship in and outside the classroom. "Respect and care for the environment, sustainable living and intergenerational responsibility," the statement reads, "are among the fundamental values that guide planning, decision making and procedures." This statement reflects the position of the environment as one of six "peaks of excellence" guiding long-term decision-making.

What has become clear, however, is that this vision is being compromised in favor of more short term concerns. What is needed now is an even stricter adherence to the principles articulated in the Board of Trustees statement. This means establishing uniformity in our building practices so that every planned or existing structure can be environmentally sound. It also requires that students, who make up the majority of the College community, be even more stringent in their recycling habits and take steps to lessen their energy consumption. Moreover, the administration must make an institutional commitment to achieving the goals laid out by the Environmental Council's Carbon Neutrality Committee for lowering our carbon emissions. Finally, the time has come for College administrators to meet student, faculty and staff demand for alternative forms of transportation. The College must publicize existing local alternative transportation resources while at the same developing its own infrastructure to meet the transportation needs of all students. These must be met not only during the high travel peaks of the year, but also on a regular basis. Committing to this would be a refreshing change from the stale dialogue on parking. And all we have to lose is our own environmentalism.