Just seven miles away in Waltham lies the corporate office of Spectra Energy, a company that extracts natural gas, refines it and pumps it throughout the U.S. Natural gas has been billed as a clean alternative to other fossil fuels. According to Spectra, natural gas is the cleanest burning conventional fuel," and as such the company is "committed to making sustainable choices... [and to] represent[ing] the best in economic, environmental and social values and practices." Unfortunately, natural gas's image as a "clean" source of energy has not proven true. Methane, the primary greenhouse gas emitted in natural gas extraction and combustion, is about 85 times as potent as carbon dioxide in its contribution to climate change (over a 20 year period).
Greenwashing is "disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image." Spectra Energy is guilty of greenwashing when it sells natural gas as a clean-burning fuel. Spectra is guilty of greenwashing when it boasts that it is committed to the environment and claims to make sustainable choices. Fossil fuel companies, however, are not the only ones who can misrepresent their green initiatives. Any organization can claim environmental sustainability without practicing it. Any group can exaggerate the impact of its climate mitigating practices. Our own institution, Tufts University, is no exception.
In the 2013 Campus Sustainability Council Report, President Monaco was quoted as saying the following: "Universities play a crucial role in helping the world adapt to a changing planet and to challenging issues such as climate change and resource depletion. We can demonstrate on campus how it is possible to take action in ways that are fiscally responsible and enhance our collective quality of life." This is also greenwashing. No, Tufts is not calling itself green while extracting fossil fuels like Spectra Energy. However, it does claim that it has a role in solving large issues like climate change while investing millions of dollars in fossil fuel extraction and combustion, the primary cause of anthropogenic climate change.
This is not to say that Tufts hasn't taken a number of environmentally conscious steps. On the contrary, there are in place many practical and useful measures that minimize the university's carbon footprint, including solar panel installations, energy efficiency retrofits and water conservation tactics such as dual-flush toilet installations. The goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75-85 percent below 2001 levels by 2050 is commendable. All things considered, Tufts' practices are among the best in the business community. These actions, however, are not how Tufts will "[help] the world adapt to...climate change." Tufts University's emissions and resource use are just a drop in the bucket. The unfortunate truth is that if Tufts were to achieve carbon neutrality tomorrow, the trajectory of global warming would not change.
The lifestyle changes we make here on campus cannot mitigate the effects of climate change on a global scale. That is why three solar installations are not enough, and that is why touting such measures as "an ambitious green agenda" is greenwashing. They will not bring the livable future we seek. Accepting these changes - ones already implemented by most responsible organizations - as "ambitious" is dangerous. Buying into this greenwashing furthers a culture of complacency and stymies campus dialogue. By patting ourselves on the back, we lose the sense of urgency required to inspire truly ambitious action.
Tufts's power to "play a crucial role in helping the world adapt to a changing planet and to challenging issues such as climate change" will never come from its energy efficiency initiatives, though they are important. It will come from using its reputation to encourage institutions and policymakers to make large-scale changes. One of the many ways Tufts can leverage its influence is by committing to divest from fossil fuels. This will not be easy. It will involve restructuring our investment strategy. It will take work. But that's what ambition is. It's doing what isn't easy
