Sustainability and Climate Change

A number of large banks have widely publicized their construction of green office buildings. While green building is a worthy endeavor, regardless of the banks' rationale for touting their involvement, it is nonetheless important to examine their motives. Are banks at the forefront of promoting green architecture and design, and if so, why? Clearly, these banks are in an influential position not only as the occupants of buildings themselves, but also as the financiers of buildings occupied by others. On the one hand, green buildings with LEED certification are believed to provide a variety of valuable benefits for their occupants, financial benefits for their owners, and environmental benefits for everyone. On the other hand, exclusive of these benefits, green buildings can enhance the public image of both their occupants and owners. Therefore, banks' promotion of green buildings via LEED might be primarily driven by the less lofty motive of greenwashing—using the appearance of environmental concern to counteract the bad publicity that has recently plagued both individual banks and the industry as a whole. Although intent is notoriously difficult to prove, quantitative and qualitative data support at least a strong presumption that the greenbacks earned by these green banks are not attributable to their working better but to their looking better.

As higher education expands to include more virtual platforms, the importance of tracking sustainability impacts of these programs increases. Approximately one-third of all college students reported taking at least one course online over the past year, including many who complete their entire program online. While the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) is the preferred model to track sustainability metrics from campus curricula, facilities, programs, and more, no equivalent measures exist for this fledgling population of virtual platform learners. By decreasing emissions from travel and on-campus facilities energy usage, there is potential for online learning to have a positive impact on the environment. This article describes the growth of these emerging platforms, proposes areas for measurement, and initiates the design of new sustainability metrics. Currently, there are no generally accepted metrics for comparing environmental impact across noncampus platforms. Although these platforms have possible connections to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—an increasingly common set of goals being adopted by higher education institutions—limited data exists to demonstrate progress toward these initiatives. The proposed new metrics are exclusive to virtual platforms across three categories: enrollment (energy usage, resource usage of noncampus students, sustainability attitudes), the multiplatform workforce (instructor autonomy, faculty protection, governance), and facilities (server locations, third-party providers, energy training programs). These metrics would allow for multiplatform sustainability tracking at universities that can contribute to the development of measurable goals and the inclusion of other educational noncampus platforms across the world.

The absence of federal action on climate change in the United States has motivated local and regional efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the adoption of 100 percent net-renewable electricity resolutions. As of 2020, more than 150 cities, counties, and states have committed to such resolutions, with six U.S. cities having already achieved their goals. Implementing 100 percent net-renewable electricity resolutions, nevertheless, requires hurdling many significant obstacles, including developing and procuring sufficient renewable electricity resources from local utilities, navigating complex energy regulations, balancing costs with other community priorities, and convincing local citizens of the merits of renewable electricity and efficiency for their homes and businesses. Through semi-structured interviews with city, community, utility, and nongovernment environmental organization representatives and secondary sources, this article investigates how the cities of Salt Lake City, Park City, and Moab, the first three cities in Utah to enact 100 percent net-renewable electricity resolutions, have been tackling those challenges. It provides an overview of their most significant outcome thus far—passage of the Community Renewable Energy Act of 2019, which prompted several additional Utah cities and counties to also commit to 100 percent net-renewable electricity. Guided by frameworks of collaborative and transformational leadership, coupled with community-based social marketing, this article offers guideposts to help other communities chart a transition to 100 percent net-renewable electricity.