Sustainability Expert Tom Kelly Available to Discuss Bill Clinton’s New 'Green' Initiative with Wal-Mart

Tom Kelly, director of the Office of Sustainability at the University of New Hampshire, is available to discuss Bill Clinton’s new initiative with Wal-Mart to make sustainability efforts more affordable for cities.

On Thursday, Clinton announced that his foundation is teaming up with Wal-Mart to save cities money on environmentally friendly supplies by buying in bulk.

“The Clinton initiative is an important example of solutions-oriented leadership that is urgently needed to respond to the challenge of climate change. From a sustainability point of view, we need to ‘keep score in public life’ as President Clinton says, by asking if all people, not just those in the United States, ‘are better off when we quit,’ said Kelly, who also serves as UNH’s chief sustainability officer.

“Universities have a critical role to play in this not just by demonstrating the benefits of reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions, but by collaborating with the public, private and nonprofit sector to meet this challenge while educating the next generation of leaders to advance sustainability in their civic and professional lives,” he said.

The University of New Hampshire is recognized as a national leader for its sustainability efforts. The university’s efforts include:

• Top five percent for energy efficiency among our peer institutions.
• Oldest endowed Office of Sustainability in the country.
• Largest public transit system in the state; more than one million riders last year avoided 4.5 million vehicle miles per year. The UNH transit system runs almost exclusively on alternative fuels.
• First residence halls in the nation to receive Energy Star rating from EPA.
• Innovative UNH/Waste Management landfill gas project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 57 percent below 1990 standards.
• Student, faculty and staff “power down” education campaigns encouraging shutdown of computers and other energy sources during breaks promote sustainable resource use and save the university money through reduced energy use.
• 60 to 70 percent of UNH research dollars go toward research in environmental issues; UNH is home to leading research in climate change, marine biology, biodiesel, natural and water resources management; and environmental engineering.
• Hundreds of institutions have used the UNH-developed Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory tool to measure their own emissions.
• Curriculum across the disciplines – from natural resources to public health, chemical engineering to philosophy – explores issues of sustainability.
• With active composting, use of organic and local food, and waste-reduction campaigns, UNH brings sustainability to its dining halls.
• Engineering students worked with EPA to analyze campus buildings for Energy Star ratings.
• UNH chapter of Engineers Without Borders brings sustainability to developing nations.
• New organic dairy research farm brings much-needed research in this area to Northeast dairy farmers.