An Inconvenient University

Believe it or not, environmental regulations, whether of the top-down government variety or the self-directed sort, have not been all that easy for environmentally conscious colleges and universities either. “Universities may lack the smokestacks and corporate jets that symbolize a reckless lack of concern for the environment but they can play an important role in reducing greenhouse gases,” University of Oklahoma anthropologist Peter S. Cahn writes in the June 29th issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. “By reducing their consumption of paper and energy, professors see their efforts multiplied because they set an example for the next generation.”

“It’s not enough to sponsor speakers who call for ending climate change, campuses must also implement measures that promote conservation.”

Despite that clarion call, Dr. Cahn recounts setbacks that show such conservation efforts to be “An Inconvenient Activity”:

* “One colleague called the Rubbermaid Corporation and discovered that the recycling bins the university provides are themselves made from virgin plastic.”

* “Another colleague tried double-sided copying on the departmental copier only to have the machine jam.”

* “If I turn down the thermostat it produces cold air rather than hot no air.”

This last discovery shows us once again how indispensable hot air is in the management of American colleges and universities today.

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.