Seeking Endorsements from Higher Education

University presidents are community leaders and highly influential with their members of Congress. University faculty represent the thought leaders of their discipline. The communities that presidents and faculty represent are highly engaged concentrations of potential voters, and securing an endorsement from a university sends a powerful message to members of Congress. CCL provides a variety of resources for seeking endorsements. In addition to these resources, continue reading to learn about our previous campaign for higher education endorsements and best practices when reaching out to institutions.

Higher Education Carbon Pricing Endorsement Initiative

 

Citizens’ Climate Lobby and Our Climate called on leaders in higher education to demonstrate support for carbon pricing. Rather than asking presidents to commit to a specific policy proposal (carbon fee and dividend), we ask them to endorse a climate solution that allows for flexibility in the way carbon pricing is implemented. The endorsements are shared with members of Congress and the higher education community. While this campaign is no longer running, it can be valuable leverage as you approach higher education institutions for endorsements.

SIGNERS

Founding Signers: 
1. Valerie Smith, President, Swarthmore College
2. Neil Weissman, Interim President, Dickinson College
3. Michael S. Roth, President, Wesleyan University
4. Jon Chenette, Interim President, Vassar College
5. Melvin Oliver, President, Pitzer College

Leadership Circle: 
6. Leon Botstein, President, Bard College
7. Robert Goldberg, Interim President, Barnard College
8. Mariko Silver, President, Bennington College
9. Dianne Harrison, President, California State University Northridge
10. Gayle E. Hutchinson, President, California State University Chico
11. Robert S. Nelsen, President, California State University Sacramento
12. Greg P. Smith, President, Central Community College Nebraska
13. David Finegold, President, Chatham University  
14. Brian W. Casey, President, Colgate University
15. Katherine Bergeron, President, Connecticut College
16. Lee Pelton, President, Emerson College
17. Marco Valera, Fordham University
18. Daniel R. Porterfield, President, Franklin and Marshall College
19. Robert Allen, President, Green Mountain College
20. Kim Benston, President, Haverford College
21. Lewis E. Thayne, President, Lebanon Valley College
22. Jo Ann Rooney, President, Loyola University Chicago
23. Brian Rosenberg, President, Macalester College
24. Sonya Stephens, Acting President, Mount Holyoke College
25. John I. Williams, Jr., President, Muhlenberg College
26. David Oxtoby, President, Pomona College
27. Wim Wiewel, President, Portland State University  
28. Thomas J. Schwarz, President, Purchase College, SUNY
29. Kathleen McCartney, President, Smith College
30. Melik Peter Khoury, President, Unity College
31. Nicholas B. Dirks, Chancellor, University of California Berkeley
32. Andrew J. Leavitt, President, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
33. Paula A. Johnson, President, Wellesley College

Additional Signers: 
34. Michael S. Brophy, President, Benedictine University
35. Bernie L. Patterson, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
36. Biddy Martin, President, Amherst College
37. Jonathan D. Green, President, Susquehanna University
38. Sophia Howlett, President, School for International Training
39. Paul J. Fitzgerald, President, University of San Francisco
40. Michael B. Alexander, President, Lasell College
41. Donald J. Laackman, President, Champlain College
42. Jonathan Gibralter, President, Wells College
43. Mary Hinton, President, College of St. Benedict
44. Barbara Andrews, Provost, Antioch University New England
45. Patrick A. Mcguire, Interim President, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
46. David P. Angel, President, Clark University
47. Clayton Rose, President, Bowdoin College
48. Stephen V. Sundborg, President, Seattle University
49. Ronald D. Liebowitz, President, Brandeis University
50. Linda Schott, President, Southern Oregon University
51. Carmen Twillie Ambar, President, Oberlin College
52. Lynn M. Morton, Warren Wilson College
53. Gerard J. Rooney, St. John Fisher College
54. Christopher F. Roellke, Stetson University
55. Beth Paul, Nazareth College

Resources

Endorsement Letter

As leaders of higher education institutions, we call upon our elected representatives to act collectively on behalf of current and future generations by putting a price on carbon. We work to prepare our students for thriving futures, over which climate change casts a dark shadow of uncertainty. Putting a price on carbon pollution is an indispensable step we can take to effectively combat climate change.

Carbon pricing creates an economy-wide incentive to reduce greenhouse gases in economically efficient ways that can, if revenues are used wisely, benefit low-income households while stimulating job growth. The World Bank has endorsed carbon pricing as a way to accurately account for the external costs of emissions, like crop loss, flood damage, and medical treatments that result from heat waves and other climate change disasters. Thousands of businesses support carbon pricing for its transparent and predictable approach.

Dozens of countries and jurisdictions across the world have already enacted carbon pricing mechanisms, and the evidence is in: carbon pricing enables renewable energy to flourish, helps phase out polluting energy sources, and lowers emissions. A strong carbon price will rise quickly enough to work without burdening low-income and middle-class families, and won’t create new dependencies on profits from carbon-based energy.

It is time for the United States to lead on this defining issue of our time, and protect the health and well-being of current and future generations. By making carbon-intensive industries pay a fair share of the costs of their pollution, we will have cleaner air and healthier communities, and prevent the most devastating effects of climate change. We therefore ask our elected officials to proactively work to enact a carbon price on the state and national level.

In the Media

All Supporters | Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (energyinnovationact.org)

Student government leaders support carbon dividends

Over 3500 economists support carbon dividends

Cities and municipal councils in the United States have also endorsed carbon pricing. Click here for a full list of municipal endorsements. Click here for municipal endorsements for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.

President Valerie Smith of Swarthmore College endorses the initiative in the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Two Huffington Post op-eds from President Oxtoby of Pomona College and Neil Leary of Dickinson College

Inside Higher Ed, with 1.8 million unique monthly visitors. 

Higher Education Today, a blog from American Council on Education. 

Several local and campus newspapers, including Wesleyan University, Connecticut College, Loyola University Chicago, and Fordham University. 

Featured in AASHE's newsletter 

Extensive social media coverage, as the news has been shared by Years of Living Dangerously (over 2 million followers) and Twilight actress Nikki Reed, among other organizations.  

See the education endorsers of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act