Former NJ Gov. Pushes Campus Sustainability

Adopted from the Cornell Daily Sun, dated April 25, 2007:

The Sun sat down yesterday with Christine Todd Whitman, former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and former governor of New Jersey to discuss college students’ impact on the environment.

The Sun: What brings you to Cornell, and what have you enjoyed about your experience here?

Christine Whitman: I went to the Ornithology lab yesterday, and that was just fascinating. I’ve been to Cornell before, and it’s just fascinating the work the lab is doing with animals and animal sounds. I’ve met with the head of [the College of] Architecture Art and Planning, and talked about some of the innovative things that are going on. I particularly enjoy spending time with students, because you never know what the questions are going to be and this is a very bright, engaged campus, with some very good, thoughtful people. So it has been fun to be able to spend some more time here than I did the last time I was here.

Sun: You’ve been interested in the environment before it became trendy and politicians and celebrities jumped on the “green” bandwagon. How did you become interested in the environment and involved in environmental causes?

Whitman: I grew up on a farm, so you are outdoors a lot, you understand the changes in nature, and the interrelationship of the eco-systems, you see that on a daily basis on a farm.

And I had parents who were very committed to the outdoors; we spent a lot of time outdoors whenever we could.

And getting more sophisticated about it, you take a state like New Jersey and you watch the farms disappear. You see housing developments where there used to be woods. You get a sense and understanding of the pressure, and it becomes more critical to take some action.

To continue reading, click here.