Press

Media releases

House approves provision to help colleges go green

February 7, 2008

The House today passed an amendment authored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) that would improve key education grants by setting higher environmental standards for recipients.  It passed by voice vote, as an amendment to the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, H.R. 4137, legislation aimed at making college education more affordable and accessible for American students.

“Promoting green colleges is a smart investment,” said Inslee, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.  “They’ve been shown to improve the student experience and will help shape the generation of Americans who will bring the clean-energy revolution to fruition.”
 
Specifically, Inslee’s measure requires that new Sustainability Planning Grants, authorized in the underlying legislation, would go to university projects that cut carbon-dioxide emissions.  As currently written, the grants could support energy-management programs, which wouldn’t necessarily have an impact on global warming. 

Inslee’s amendment also would require that new facilities at colleges and universities meet or exceed energy-efficiency standards set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) for schools to be eligible for grants under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.  This federal education grant program supports projects that encourage innovative reform and expand education opportunities to underrepresented groups.

“Many of our nation’s 4,000 colleges and universities are taking action to reduce greenhouse-gas pollution, which currently accounts for 7 percent of U.S. carbon emissions,” added Inslee, co-author of a book released in the fall entitled “Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy.”  “Federal grants should be available to give a boost to such projects, like the state-of-the-art, carbon-neutral science laboratory being planned at Cascadia Community College in my district.”
  
Inslee’s amendment has the support of ASHRAE, The Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organization, The American Institute of Architects, Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association, and National Fire Protection Association.

The bill that Inslee’s provision amends, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, is expected to win approval in the House later today.  It was passed unanimously out of the House Committee on Education and Labor in December.

Learn more about the College Opportunity and Affordability Act.

Read Inslee’s amendment.