It is not true that Yale alumni invented the environmental movement. It just looks that way.
Yale alumni founded the first U.S. forestry school (at Yale). Wrote two of the movement's seminal books, A Sand County Almanac (1949) and The Greening of America (1970). Founded Conservation International, Ecotrust, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the World Resources Institute.
Various Yale alumni are recognized as: the father of the international agreement on protecting the ozone layer; the leading advocates for mining reform, clean air law, and efficiency policy for utilities; major thinkers in the environmental law movement; and the first person to coin the term "biological diversity."
Yale alumni recently started a venture capital firm that invests in green companies. Founded a student action network on global warming. Have run a huge and diverse mix of green organizations, from Big Apple Solar Installation Commitment and the Connecticut Fund for the Environment to the World Wildlife Fund, the Humane Society, and --
But we'll spare you.
Even for Yale, it's a disproportionately large influence on a relatively small sector. All of these alumni are a considerable mitigating factor in Yale's environmental footprint. It occurred to us that they could also help those of you who want to mitigate your own footprint. So we asked five seasoned environmental players: what green tips would you give the readers of the Yale Alumni Magazine?
Frances G. Beinecke '71, '74MFS
"Step number one is to set an example in your community and your business, in your own life, to improve the environment. Hopefully we're all changing the lightbulbs and taking environmental steps in our homes -- but what's required is leadership in all sectors. Whether you work in a for-profit or a not-for-profit, every single place has an impact on the environment and can improve. Making the environment part of your personal and professional framework, and calling on others in your workplace and in your life to do the same, is the key first step.
"Curbing global warming is the number one priority. There are many ways to reduce our carbon emissions, and the first and easiest is to improve energy efficiency. Every building in the country and the world can be made more energy-efficient through design and technology. Having energy efficiency top of mind in new designs or renovations is key.
"Water is number two. Water is going to be the limiting factor in this century, both in the United States and worldwide. We don't use water efficiently and we continue to pollute, so being conscious of how water is used and looking at how to make that use as efficient as possible is critical."
Donald D. T. Chen '98, '99MES
"One of the most significant ways people can reduce their carbon footprint is to replace one or several car trips as part of their daily or weekly routine. Fifty percent of all trips people take are less than three miles. That can easily be done on a bike. Twenty-eight percent are less than one mile.
"The second way is: location, location, location. People who might want to reduce their carbon footprint by driving less may not be able to if they live or work or shop in places that require a person to drive a car everywhere.
"It's also essential to support green development. If there is a green neighborhood being built -- in other words, compact and walkable, not too dependent on cars -- citizens should get up and advocate for those as strenuously as they might oppose something that's grossly inappropriate for them. Unfortunately, a lot of neighborhood activists oppose good development that saves the environment -- a more compact development near a train station or other types of things that are greener. People ought to be strenuously for what's good. We've seen communities succeed when their citizens are active, informed, engaged."
Fred Krupp '75
"Overwhelmingly, the most important thing an individual citizen can do on global warming is engage politically. This problem is not going to be solved by the sum of voluntary actions. It's only going to be solved globally when the United States' political system moves, because we are the only industrialized country in the world which has not agreed to a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas pollution.
"I feel so strongly about this that if you had me give you the five most important things to do, I would probably say, Number one is engage politically. Two is, specifically, contact your senator. Three would be contact your congressman. Four would be contact your governor. Five would be make all your political donations coupled with this message: that the United States needs to enact a strong mandatory limit on greenhouse gases.
"I have a vision that if a portion of the Yale alumni decided to really get behind it, the linchpin of this problem -- the United States -- could be restored to its role as a leader instead of a laggard on this issue."
William K. Reilly '62
"The first and most serious impact of climate change will be felt in water scarcity. I live in San Francisco. We've seen a 50 percent loss on the West Coast in snowmelt in the last 50 or so years, and it's expected we'll lose another 50 to 80 percent in the next 50 years. That potentially could transform not just economics but a culture.
"Obviously we have significant irrigation commitments. But industry and agriculture have been quite good over the last 30 to 40 years at improving the efficiency of their water use. Coca-Cola recycles 90 percent of its water now. I don't think we've made the same kinds of adjustments to our household use and particularly to landscaping uses. The average household uses something like a hundred gallons a day. The major portion of that is often for landscaping.
"But there are some very encouraging trends. Seattle, Los Angeles, and a number of cities have seen their population grow threefold over the last 30 to 40 years, without any increase in water use. That shows that it can be done."
Thomas E. Lovejoy III '64, '71PhD
"We have to think in terms of the less advantaged of the world, who are going to be most hurt by environmental degradation. In some instances they're major contributors [to the degradation], because they have minimal options. A substantial amount of the deforestation all over the world is driven to some extent by poverty, by people looking for opportunity or survival. Among other things, it does require intelligent approaches to foreign assistance.
"Everybody has a role to play for
the environment -- whether you're a poet or you're in commerce or you're in
politics or you're working at the community level. When young people come to me
and ask, 'What should I do? Should I be a scientist?' my answer is, Follow your
heart. You make your contribution through what you love to do best." 