In addition to the three subgroups, YSEC works on a number of coalition-wide projects. Last fall, we hosted an environmental bazaar at Dwight Hall, GreenFest (a fall festival promoting environmental awareness), regular lunches with distinguished Yale professors and guests including Forestry School Dean Gus Speth and US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and a panel discussion on the environment and the presidential elections. We are working on a proposal to implement a bike-sharing program on campus as well as planning speakers and events for Earth Day in April. YSEC also has funding to send students to environmental conferences, and sent more than a dozen students to conferences across the world in the fall.
We are proud of our solid track record of success. Two years ago, we circulated a petition asking President Levin to extend Yale's greenhouse gas reduction goals to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the 2050, organized educational displays for Earth Week, planned events for Step it Up and Focus the Nation, sent students to a conference on climate neutrality, and created a guide to sustainable living after Yale, called Green Graduates. Last year, we organized for environmental justice in New Haven's North Hill neighborhood, testified in front of the New Haven Board of Alders in favor of a sustainable transportation policy, hosted a speaker from Forest Ethics, worked with the NAACP to sponsor a panel on environmental justice in New Haven, hosted an all-campus environmental dinner, and held a panel discussion on careers and climate change for Focus the Nation.
We welcome participation and new members at any point in the year. For more information about getting involved, or about YSEC generally, please contact: julia.lurie@yale.edu, charles.zhu@yale.edu, or ariel.patashnik@yale.edu