Sustainability
“The University of San Diego prepares students to be enlightened, engaged and ecological citizens.”
James T. Harris III, President, University of San Diego
Commitment to Care For Our Common Home
Our world faces increasingly complex and urgent challenges that affect our collective environmental, social and economic well-being. Responding to these challenges in a holistic manner is the essence of sustainability, and the University of San Diego recognizes its responsibility to be a part of the response. We seek to create a university culture that embraces environmentally and socially responsible practices and processes through student action, faculty research, curricula, and daily operations, resulting in lasting change for both USD and society.
When USD adopted Pope Francis’ Care for Our Common Home philosophy as one of the six Pathways to achieve its mission, it was a catalyst for this cultural change. The USD Office of Sustainability has launched several initiatives to support this effort. In 2016, USD published a Climate Action Plan which set goals for reducing the university's carbon footprint; this will be updated in 2020 as we rise to meet the new challenge established by President Harris to achieve climate neutrality by 2035. The Office has created programs to educate students and employees on ways to make their daily work and living practices more sustainable, and led projects to reduce USD’s greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, the university offers nearly 400 courses containing sustainability concepts.
We hope you will get involved in these and other sustainability initiatives on campus. We are here to offer resources to support your efforts and look forward to partnering with you to help address climate change and other urgent challenges of the 21st century.
Recent Spotlights
Introducing the new symbol for Sustainability at USD!
June 5, 2020
In late 2019, the Office of Sustainability wanted to create a better representation for our office mission. We were fortunate enough to collaborate wi…
In the News
Dangerous Pollution in Cancer Alley Leads to Higher COVID Mortality
// July 1, 2020
JUNE 23, 2020 A cemetery stands in contrast to the chemical plants that surround it in “Cancer Alley” near Baton Rouge, La. I…
Traffic Is Way Down Because Of Lockdown, But Air Pollution? Not So Much
// June 22, 2020
THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Traffic Is Way Down Because Of Lockdown, But Air Pollution? Not So Much May 19, 20205:00 AM ET Hea…
Inside Clean Energy: A California Utility Announces 770 Megawatts of Battery Storage. Thatβs a Lot.
// June 16, 2020
Southern California Edison plans to build seven storage projects on a fast timetable despite the economic disruption of the coronavirus. …
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