THREE GOALS OF THE PLAN

1 2 3 well-informed about the science and potential solutions of climate change can have a great effect on society.

Ensure that every student graduates from Exeter with a fundamental understanding of the principles of sustainability and the issues posed by climate change. Reduce scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions (from a 2005 baseline) 75% by 2031 and achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Integrate principles of sustainability into all Exeter programs and operations.

The plan does not create new courses or academic or extracurricular programs. That process will be led by the faculty with input from students. “It will embolden our faculty to design new curricular experiences around sustainability,” McTammany says. “It will empower our students to propose field courses and projects that center environmental issues. Our teachers won’t just be teaching content, they’ll inspire purpose and prepare our students to be difference makers. And that’s something our faculty are already really good at.”

The educational goals include working with student groups to design and implement projects such as dorm composting and wetland restoration, and developing sustainability-related internships through the alumni network. Bea Burack ’21, a sophomore at Dartmouth College who spent four years at Exeter working to raise awareness about the threat of climate change and who is currently helping revise Dartmouth’s climate action plan, calls the stated goal to educate students in an interdisciplinary fashion “promising but vague,” adding, “I’m wondering how it will be executed.” She says she hopes the school will offer more specifics as the plan evolves, but she fully supports the proposal to expand internship opportunities. “I interned at the Conservation Law Foundation after my upper year, through a program supported by Exeter,” she recalls. “That was a transformative and fascinating experience for me and has driven my continued interest in pursuing a career as an environmental lawyer.”

The second chapter of the plan is multilayered and dedicated to emissions and energy. The first layer calls for reducing emissions — direct (scope 1) or indirect through purchased electricity (scope 2) — by 75% from a 2005 baseline by 2031. As noted, the Academy has made great strides toward this goal already, and Biggins calls the aim “very achievable and realistic.”

The second element of the emissions goal targets achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050. To quantify just how ambitious this aim is, consider that even though the institution has cut its emissions from fossil fuels, it still emitted more than 10 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere last year. Eliminating that will require fresh ideas.

“It’s important to aim so high because it’s what the best available science tells us we have to do,” Biggins says. “Not as just the Academy, it’s what civilization has to do to avoid the worst effects of global climate change.”

Biggins says that if one were to build PEA from scratch today, achieving zero carbon would be in the blueprints. “You’d have your buildings heated and cooled via heat pump, and your water heated via heat pump,” he says. “Whether that’s air source heat pump or geothermal heat pump, those technologies exist and are available. You would also have an electric vehicle fleet. The charging station infrastructure is all available. … For the most part,