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Campus Global Warming Commitments

"Never mind what you've heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us." - Time Magazine

"Why doesn't every college make it a goal to become carbon-neutral - that is, reduce its net CO2 emissions to zero? This should be a national movement. After all, today's students will be profoundly affected by climate change, the coming energy wars and the rising danger of petro-authoritarian states, such as Iran." - Thomas Friedman, New York Times

In light of the growing popular interest in global warming and the critical need for campuses to take responsibility for their global warming pollution, AASHE is pleased to make available to the public this resource highlighting campuses that have made commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

This resource lists only campus global warming commitments with specific reduction goals and target dates for achieving them. As a result, campuses that have committed to climate neutrality by signing the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, but have not yet adopted a target date for climate neutrality are not listed here.

Campus commitments are listed (to the extent possible) in order of relative strength, with the strongest commitments listed first.


Institution

Commitment

Date of Commitment

College of the Atlantic

climate neutrality, immediately1

Oct. 2006

Middlebury College

8% below 1990 levels by 2012 on a per student basis and carbon neutrality by 2016

May 2004 and May 2007

Cornell University

7% below 1990 levels by 2008

Apr. 2001

Tufts University

7% below 1990 levels by 2012 and 4% below 1998-2001 baseline by 2006

Apr. 1999 and 2004

UC Berkeley

1990 levels by 2014

May 2007

Yale University

10% below 1990 levels by 2020

Oct. 2005

Williams College

10% below 1990-91 levels by 2020

Jan. 2007

University of British Columbia

25% below 2000 levels by 2010 (only for emissions from buildings; adjusted for growth)

2006

Bowdoin College

11% below 2002 levels by 20101

Jan. 2006

University of Oklahoma

4% below 1998-2001 baseline by 20062

Jan. 2004

University of Iowa

4% below 1998-2001 baseline by 20062

May 2004

University of Minnesota

4% below 1998-2001 baseline by 20062

Dec. 2004

Michigan State University

6% below 1998-2001 baseline by 20102

Nov. 2006

University of California System

2000 levels by 2010, 1990 levels by 2020, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050

Jan. 2006

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

10% below 2005 levels by 2015; 20% by 2030; 30% by 2040; 45% by 2045; 60% by 2050

June 2006

1 - Participant in the Maine Governor's Carbon Challenge.
2 - Member of the Chicago Climate Exchange.


Please email additions, updates and suggestions for improving this resource to julian@aashe.org.


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Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA) is our current spotlight campus! Swarthmore's campus is a nationally-designated arboretum featuring a LEED Certified Science Center, 5,000 sq. feet of green roof, and two recently-constructed environmentally friendly dormitories. 40% of the College's energy supply is provided by wind power.  Learn more

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 Top Resources

AASHE Digest 2007

Academic Programs in Sustainability

AASHE Bulletin

Campus Sustainability Policy Bank

Campus Sustainability Profiles

Campus Global Warming Commitments

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Introduction to the Climate Registry for Universities and Colleges Webinar, July 24, 2008

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