“Our savings don’t come back … so it’s harder to raise the incentive for the campus to save energy.” – Sue Weslow, associate vice chancellor of Finance and Administrative Affairs

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee administrators have talked about adopting an environmental policy after groups on campus have been pushing for one.

But even though the two sides agree in principle, there are still roadblocks in the way.

The main obstacle to UWM signing the Talloires Declaration, a document signed by universities around the world promising to enforce environmental accountability on their campus, has been specific language in the declaration.

Associate Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administrative Affairs Sue Weslow said that the school agrees with the fundamental principles and ideas of the declaration, but certain lines in the declaration make promises that UWM may be unable to deliver on.

Parts of the declaration, like where it says that schools that sign the Talloires Declaration are to “create programs to develop the capability of university faculty to teach environmental literacy to all undergraduate, graduate and professional school students” may be a commitment that UWM is unable to fulfill, said Sherwood Wilson, vice chancellor for Finance and Administrative Affairs.

Welsow also said that the state of Wisconsin’s energy billing methods make it harder to convince schools like UWM to adopt a strict, enforceable environmental policy.

UW schools see no financial benefit to saving energy, Weslow said. Over the last two years, UWM has adjusted all 6,000 of the school’s thermostats and decreased the temperatures in campus buildings throughout winter months. Though the school’s heating bills have decreased by 4 percent, those savings went into a UW Systems fund, as opposed to being returned directly to UWM.

“One challenge to a policy is the way we’re billed,” Weslow said. “Our savings don’t come back … so it’s harder to raise the incentive for the campus to save energy.”

Coordinator for the Conservation & Environmental Sciences program Christina Buffington agreed that a financial incentive for passing an environmental policy would help get things done quicker.

“If (UWM) can keep the money it saves on energy costs, everyone benefits,” she said.

Both sides have a lot of common ground when it comes to the administration’s role in maintaining an environmentally friendly campus. Weslow and Director of Finance and Administrative Affairs John Krezoski both mentioned UWM’s use of recycled lights and chemicals as ways in which the school is trying to conserve resources.

In addition, they talked about the possibility of more lights in offices being turned off when they’re empty, telling people to turn the monitors off when they shut down on-campus computers and promoting campus-wide beautification efforts as ways of making UWM more environmentally conscious.

Krezoski hopes that the administration and the campus groups will be on the same page in regard to educating the campus on environmental issues.

“(Raising environmental awareness) is an education thing, and all departments involved would need to pool together their resources to do this,” Krezoski said.

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