Cornell University
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

A variety of Cornell units and members of the University community are regularly engaged with Tompkins County organizations, local governments, and leaders working on carbon neutrality, sustainability, and cutting-edge strategies that touch on government policies, utility infrastructure and more efficient ways to engage and empower. Cornell staff are participating in the Ithaca Green Building Policy (http://www.ithacagreenbuilding.com/home) and serving on the Advisory Committee. Legislation is expected to be considered for adoption by the City of Ithaca Common Council and Town of Ithaca Town Board for standards for energy and water use standards for new construction. A Cornell staffer serves on the county-appointed Environmental Management Council, http://tompkinscountyny.gov/emc while staff and faculty have offered inputs and expertise in the development of the Tompkins County Energy Roadmap. Cornell was also a founding member of the world-class Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative, http://www.tccpi.org that includes governments, businesses and citizens from all walks of life, who advocate for key legislation, and related ordinances tied to solar, wind, coal, natural gas, and on other key topics/ Finally, Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, http://www.atkinson.cornell.edu is the first research institution to unite three pillars of sustainability—energy, environment, and economic development—in one center. Grant programs have provided leadership and resources tied to public policy, and related developments.

During the Legislative Session we hosted a meeting at Cornell Tech for the NYS Energy Committee Chair, the Ithaca Assemblywoman, and the Assembly member who represents that campus. This meeting consisted of a briefing for these legislators on state tax laws that need to be amended to prevent local taxing jurisdictions from applying unreasonable tax assessments on renewable energy projects. These assessments are preventing projects from going forward. This briefing at Cornell Tech also covered the Renewable Energy Certificate issues that need their attention. These legislators were given a tour of the sustainability features of the Cornell Tech campus. We had sustainability directors from SUNY Buffalo and Ithaca College join us for this briefing and tour. Cornell staff led the work of the Coalition of Renewable Energy Users (CORE), a group of institutions and businesses which actively participated in NYS Public Service Commission cases and matters filing comments and petitions with the intent to cause new rules on distributed energy resources and the state's clean energy standard to enable voluntary renewable energy projects and participation in the state's renewable energy transition by utility customers. At the annual meeting of the Alliance for Clean Energy NY (ACENY) in Albany (October 10) a Cornell representative introduced the keynote speaker, SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson, and described some of Cornell’s achievements and activities in renewable energy and sustainability.

Cornell University is a strong advocate for Federal policies that have a direct impact on the university and its students, faculty, staff, and operations as a non-profit institution with missions of education, research, patient care, and outreach. Cornell faculty are expert on many issues that touch on sustainability, and the University encourages these individuals to share their expertise and research to help shape federal policy across a broad range of issues including climate change, energy policy, agricultural practices, economic development, water resources, invasive species management, sustainable development, and species conservation, among others. Cornell University advocates for robust funding for the federal agencies that sponsor research on sustainability, including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture (including the National Resources Conservation Service and Forest Service), Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautic & Space Administration, and US Geological Survey. Cornell continues to lobby against legislation that would place restrictions on funding for entire research disciplines such as climate change and social science, that touch on sustainability. The University also actively opposes legislation and policy changes that would impose political conditions and filters on scientific research, squelch data collection and dissemination, politicize the peer review process, remove scientists from serving on federal scientific advisory panels, and discredit or ignore scientific findings.

Each year, Cornell participates in and sends a delegation to the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP). Please see url below for details. Additionally, Cornell's President Martha Pollack has signed her support of the Paris agreements (see below for link and details).

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http://climatechange.cornell.edu/2018/12/19/cornell-delegation-attends-cop24/ http://news.cornell.edu/essentials/2017/06/president-signs-make-climate-change-progress