Do Actions Speak As Loud As Words? Commitments to 'Going Green' on Campus
Forthcoming in Contemporary Economic Policy
39 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2012 Last revised: 8 Jul 2013
Date Written: July 8, 2013
Abstract
Signatories to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment pledge to pursue a path toward carbon neutrality through the choice of a set of Tangible Actions. The Actions can be chosen either because they will lead to reductions or because they are the easiest to achieve. By exploiting the variation in the Tangible Actions chosen by colleges, we find evidence for both of these motivations. We find evidence that schools focusing their efforts on improving energy efficiency have achieved swift reductions. Conversely, schools pledging to use green power are generally already utilizing it and therefore do not achieve additional reductions. We conclude with suggestions for improvement in the ACUPCC reporting system that would improve potential for analysis.
Keywords: Sustainability, Environmental Policy, Voluntary Commitments
JEL Classification: Q01, Q40, Q56
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation