A student demonstration calling for Scripps College to sign onto a national “carbon commitment” — a climate pledge signed by the other four Claremont Colleges and 329 other colleges and universities nationwide — will take place on the Scripps Bowling Green Lawn on Friday from 2 to 4 p.m.
Signing the Second Nature Climate commitment would signify Scripps’ pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, according to the commitment document. The document says that signed colleges must develop a comprehensive climate action plan, identify a target date for achieving carbon neutrality and submit an annual evaluation of progress to the Climate Leadership Network.
“We demand that Scripps listen to its community! … It’s time to finally take action — commit to accountability and transparency with our carbon emissions, and acknowledge our contributions to global climate destruction and environmental justice,” flyers handed out by student organizers Nov. 8 said.
A petition for the college to sign the commitment created by student activists has been signed by 1,016 people as of Thursday.
The petition has also been signed by several Scripps professors, according to the website, including German professor Marc Katz, politics professor Thomas Kim and Humanities Institute director Myriam Chancy.
Pitzer College, Pomona College and Claremont McKenna College signed the commitment in 2007; Harvey Mudd College signed it in 2008.
In May, CMC students supported advancing its reduction goal from 2050 to 2030 in the first ASCMC resolution passed in over four years.
Julia Frankel PO ’22 is from Brooklyn, New York. She previously served as one of TSL’s news editors.