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Sustainability
As good as new at Penn Closet
As good as new at Penn Closet
The student-run thrift shop on the ground floor of Williams Hall gives clothes and other items a second life, plus offers donators and shoppers a simple way to practice sustainability.
Immersive stories to spur action on climate
Immersive stories to spur action on climate
Organized by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH), a two-day festival, “Environmental Storytelling and Virtual Reality” begins Friday, and will explore how virtual reality and other immersive storytelling might inspire action on climate change.
A second life for leaves
A second life for leaves
Taking a scientific approach to managing campus land, Facilities and Real Estate Services is partnering with soil scientists and ecologists to study how mulching plots with leaves fares for soil health and biodiversity.
Campus orchard grows, with help from the community
Campus orchard grows, with help from the community
Now five years old, the Penn Park Orchard is expanding, literally and figuratively. With shovels and sweat equity, members of the University contributed to those efforts at a workday.
Carbon-neutral by 2042: CSAP 3.0’s most ambitious plan
Carbon-neutral by 2042: CSAP 3.0’s most ambitious plan
At the University Council meeting on Oct. 23, Craig Carnaroli and Anne Papageorge highlighted the current successes and future plans of Penn’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0. with an ambitious goal—to be 100% carbon neutral by 2042.
Leading the way in the field of energy policy
Leading the way in the field of energy policy
During two decades at Penn, Mark Alan Hughes has made the University a leader in the field of energy policy—and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Weighing the environmental impacts of a byproduct of biofuel combustion: plant skeletons
Weighing the environmental impacts of a byproduct of biofuel combustion: plant skeletons
The School of Arts and Sciences’ Reto Gieré and Ruggero Vigliaturo and colleagues found that phytoliths—small, silica-containing deposits present in many plant species—are emitted during biofuel combustion.
A road map for climate action and sustainability
A road map for climate action and sustainability
Ten years after releasing its original Climate Action Plan, the University of Pennsylvania has launched the Climate & Sustainability Action Plan 3.0, outlining Penn’s goals for improved environmental performance from 2019 to 2024.
Lauder College House named
Lauder College House named
The new name was revealed at a ceremony celebrating the house’s first cohort of fourth-year residents, along with incoming Class of 2023 and second- and third-year residents.
Climate lecture series will call for ‘unprecedented action,’ 1.5 minutes at a time
Climate lecture series will call for ‘unprecedented action,’ 1.5 minutes at a time
With a nod to the stated goal of the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst effects of climate change, a new 90-second lecture series kicks off today to give faculty and students a platform to briefly share how their work addresses climate change, and what we can do to help.
In the News
Tampa Bay Times
Could Florida electric bills go up because of a fuel made from manure?
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that federal and California state subsidies have led to a gold rush of companies trying to get into the business of renewable natural gas around the country.
FULL STORY →
The New York Times
Why don’t we just ban fossil fuels?
Joseph Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences says that stronger action against fossil fuels is essential to save the planet.
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PBS NewsHour
UN reports worrying rates of warming as COP28 tries to tackle climate crisis
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences warns that the steady warming rate of the planet’s surface and oceans is fueling increasingly dangerous extreme weather events and coastal flooding.
FULL STORY →
Vox.com
An oil executive is leading the UN climate summit. It’s going as well as you’d expect
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Ahmed al-Jaber’s comments about fossil fuels betray an ignorance of climate science and a dismissiveness about the need for rapid decarbonization.
FULL STORY →
Philadelphia Inquirer
Princeton and Penn scientists win Philly award for their climate change work
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences has won the 2023 John Scott Award for his work to address climate change.
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Yahoo! News
Should you stop flying to fight climate change?
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that decisions by individual climate scientists of whether or not to fly won’t change the system of air travel.
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