Thirty percent in ten years: nice round numbers. That’s the amount by which Columbia and seven other colleges pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions today under Mayor Bloomberg’s glitzy PlaNYC program for greening the Big Apple. The announcement came with some high praise from President Bollinger: “No idea is bigger or more important to our collective future than Mayor Bloomberg’s determination that New York be a leader in responding to the challenges of climate change,” he said in the press release.

This stuff is complicated, but in simple terms, that’s a bigger commitment than any of the major presidential candidates (and most of the minor ones) have made for that timeframe. Bwog’s question: do we even know how much carbon Columbia emits now?

We’ll get back to you on that.

Meanwhile, Public Affairs also used the release to highlight some nifty things that Columbia’s climateers and recyclemaniacs have been up to this year (did you know we actually won something?). Check Nilda‘s site for more info.

– LBD