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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
Why the President Drives a Prius Y: In 2005 you made a very specific commitment for Yale to cut carbon emissions. L: I prefer to do things that have real content. We’re seeking a 43 percent reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions, starting from 2005. We've reduced our consumption by 17 percent already, and we’re measuring ourselves year by year to make sure we’re on track. Local governments and businesses that are large consumers of energy can make a difference collectively if they set their own limits on greenhouse gas emissions. We hope to demonstrate that substantial reductions can be accomplished at a cost premium that is affordable. There are many ways to save costs and reduce energy consumption at the same time. Then there’s a second round of actions that cost some money, but not that much, in order to get better energy efficiency. If there were a capital trading system or a carbon tax on fuels, some of the things that are uneconomic today would become economic. Y: We’ve talked about the public role of a university president [March/April 2005]. You said it had changed over the decades—people don’t expect a university president to be a general-purpose pundit anymore, but to speak to academic issues. What made you decide that global warming comes within your role? L: I never ruled out speaking on current issues, but I also said one had to be careful and selective because otherwise one can become a pundit-to-order for every interest group. Over time, I became increasingly convinced that global warming was an issue of truly major importance—and it was not getting adequately addressed by the U.S. government or governments elsewhere. I came to believe that universities were the ideal institutions to demonstrate the feasibility of carbon reduction, because such a demonstration serves an important educational purpose—both for our students, who are future citizens and leaders, and for the general public. Having a school of environmental studies, with a dean who is himself a strong leader and advocate on this subject, had an impact on my thinking. Gus Speth deserves some credit. Y: You’ve said in speeches, “I did this so I wouldn’t have Gus Speth breathing down my neck anymore.” L: [Laughs.] That was in jest, but Gus has made a tremendous contribution in this area. We see eye to eye on the damaging consequences of global warming, if not always on particular policy solutions. I’m an economist and he’s not. Some of the solutions I would advocate would not be his first choices. But we both agree that the problem needs to be addressed. Y: What was the turning point for you? L: There was no single turning point. I have followed [economist] Bill Nordhaus’s work on global warming through the years, and some time ago I heard Jared Diamond talk about historical examples of resource over-consumption, which I cited in my 1999 Baccalaureate Address. I have followed the scientific work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the consortium of 2,500 scientists—including some of our own—that was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Gradually, the evidence became convincing to me. Y: There’s a group of Yale students lobbying, too. L: We’ve had some remarkable students leading the way on this issue. I was particularly influenced by a report done in 2003 by three students—Andrew Kroon ['05], who tragically died as a senior, Andrew Cedar ['06], and Jude Joffe-Block ['04]. They did a fabulous, very well-documented report on Yale’s energy use. Y: As an economist running a small economy, you must have considered the cost of energy as a factor. L: No, it wasn’t economics. I was much more driven by concern about the global problem. Y: You’ve made both globalization and science part of your mission. Global warming fits with those. L: It does. Science and internationalization of the university have been two major themes of our academic development in the past years. It’s a natural extension to look at environmental consequences which are inherently global, which require international cooperation to address, which require good science to understand, and which require scientific and technological progress to mitigate. Y: Will you work on global warming in other arenas? What about politics? L: I go to Washington, DC, two or three times a year to talk with legislators about issues that concern universities—things like visa reform and research funding. Now I’ve added global warming to my list. Y: Some Yale alumni are skeptical about global warming. What would you say to them? L: Well, we have had 2,500 scientists involved in the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change working on this problem for nearly 20 years, and they’ve
now achieved a high level of confidence that average global temperatures will
rise by more than two degrees centigrade in the next century—a critical
level for the magnitude of dislocation and change. At this point, it’s pretty
hard to disagree about the science. There is disagreement about how severe the
economic impact will be, and about the optimal time path of remedial action.
But one way or the other, something dramatic is happening to the planet within
the next century or two, and it’s critical that we start to do something about
it now. |
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