Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.34
Liaison Jennifer Andrews
Submission Date July 29, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of New Hampshire
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Mica Stark
Special Assistant to the President - Gov Relations and Strategic Initiatives
Presidents Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution advocate for national, state/provincial, or local public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:

Faculty, staff and students engage in public policy advocacy for sustainability. For example:

UNH President Mark Huddleston signed on to a letter sponsored by AASHE urging Congress and President Bush to sign HESEA into law in 2008: http://www.fundee.org/campaigns/hesa/

In February 2008, UNH Chief Sustainablity Tom Kelly testified for the importance of sustainability in the food service industry at the hearing on Sustainability and the Food Service Industry to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.http://globalwarming.house.gov/tools/assets/files/0364.pdf

At the request of the NH Governor's office and NH state legislature, UNH faculty, staff and students often help inform policy and decision-making. For example, UNH CSO Tom Kelly was invited to be on the NH State Energy Committee, and Dr. Cameron Wake of UNH's Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space is part of Governor Lynch's Climate Change Task Force.

In 2011, Tom Kelly cosigned a letter to the NH legislature in support of NH staying involved in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). In 2013, Food Solutions New England at UNH signed to a letter support farm to plate and local food system work in the state of New Hampshire.

In 2010, UNH Professor Andrew Rosenberg was referred by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to advise the White House on marine spatial planning. The President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is the specific entity which Rosenberg was recruited to. Before coming to UNH, Rosenberg was a senior level official at NOAA and also worked with the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy among other endeavors. More here: http://www.tnhonline.com/unh-professor-tapped-to-advise-white-house-1.624928

UNH student Laura Carpenter followed up on an active learning project in a political science seminar (international environmental politics) to get a bill through the NH legislature that legalized and set out guidelines for NH property owners to install wind turbines on residential property. Governor Lynch signed the bill into law in 2008. More here: http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2008/July/lw23law.cfm

In early 2014, UNH Net Impact students testified in support of SB 115, Benefits Corporations legislation in front of the New Hampshire State Legislature.


A brief description of other political positions the institution has taken during the previous three years:
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A brief description of political donations the institution made during the previous three years (if applicable):

UNH does not make any.


The website URL where information about the institution’s advocacy efforts is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.