Colleges and universities have the responsibility to accelerate to net zero carbon footprints.  A few are already near these goals, but more need to take the matter seriously.  All need to move more quickly.

If you are reading this, you know that time is running out.  You understand that our species has damaged the planet.  Our task is to stop damaging and begin repairing.  Movement in the right direction has started but is far slower than necessary.  Campuses are among the biggest and best places to act.  They are able to make their own carbon neutrality real.

Why campuses?  The world needs large scale demonstrations of how to live, work and build without carbon footprints, sequestering carbon and emitting no net greenhouse gasses.  Not easy or inexpensive, but American campuses have three distinguishing characteristics that make them essential models:

• Scale and Complexity
• Longevity and Permanence
• Governance and Comprehensiveness

Scale and Complexity – Many moving parts     Campuses are among the largest designed environments on the planet.  They encompass a range of uses – living, working, playing, building, creating, discovery and much more.  By including the carbon footprint of student and employee commuting and other off-site activities, the approaches can be comprehensive, both far-reaching and regional in scope.

Longevity and Permanence – Taking the long view     Many of the world’s oldest institutions are colleges.  An unspoken part of institutional mission statements is to remain in business for perpetuity.  Except for for-profits, there are no sunset provisions, no intent to dissolve.  This gives colleges and universities a different perspective from businesses worried about this quarter’s profits.  This long view allows investments that will yield benefits over decades rather than months.  Instead of worrying about next quarter’s profits, there is responsibility to act to protect future generations.

Governance and Comprehensiveness – Single ownership and balance sheet      Unlike a town or city with thousands of owners, each with their own balance sheet, the institution is the sole owner.  The institution has a comprehensive balance sheet, financial and environmental and has the ability to act.  When an institution makes a commitment to carbon neutrality, its progress can actually be measured.  All the required data is already in a spreadsheet.

History of action – March 1, 2021       Most higher education institutions have already been relatively good citizens.  They were early to campus-wide recycling and energy conservation programs.  They have used LEED criteria to guide building design and operation for decades.

About 15 years ago, a dozen college and university presidents signed a commitment to reduce their institutions greenhouse gas emissions to zero.  Many chose 2050 as the target date.  Initially these intentions were met with skepticism and viewed as impractical, unnecessary, idealistic and expensive.  Existing building industry, investment policies and administrative practices created inertia.

Short-term economic thinking has always played a strong role.  Low/no-carbon options have higher first costs than reliance on existing operating practices.  These options pay for themselves over time.  In almost all cases these options outperform the institution’s investment portfolios.  Still, short-term, first-cost thinking guides most decision makers.

Disagreements about the value of LEED certification and acceptable rates of return on investment are common in building committees and board meetings.  For those of us who have been in the room, it is like listening to stagehands disagreeing about the best way to change the set, for a play that is about to close.

Status – March 1, 2021      By now, some institutions have begun to reach net zero for on-site and purchased energy emissions (Scopes 1 and 2).  The largest and first public one is UC Merced and it has joined a handful of much smaller institutions who have been leaders.  They need more company.

There are now more than 600 signatories to the  American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.  Even at this late date, many have chosen 2050 as their target date.  This is a commitment to act more slowly than possible, with no sense of urgency.  Individual campus carbon plans and progress reports are at Second Nature.

The habitability of the planet by the human species is decreasing.  Disease and famine gnaw at our numbers.  Climate change driven disruptions and migrations are increasing.  And now more than ever in human history, we know it.  We have the data.

Unlike the frog about to be boiled in an increasingly warm pot of water, we have enough information.  Now is the time to jump.  Colleges and universities have a responsibility to lead in their curriculums and policies.  Campuses are the place to show how it’s done and to move fast enough to make it matter.

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