Evidence of climate change and its potential for global health, social, economic, and ecological disruption mandates immediate action, but what can higher education leaders do to reduce and eventually neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and to accelerate the research and educational efforts to restabilize the earth’s climate? Exploring that question were plenary speakers Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, a global company manufacturing carpet tiles and upholstery, and Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature.

Anderson is recognized as a premier corporate leader in creating sustainable businesses and is former president of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development during the Clinton administration. His goal as a businessman is to “take from the earth only that which is renewable and does no harm to the biosphere.” New thinking about sustainability at his carpet tile company, with sales of more than $1 billion annually, has led to the creation of new products that he maintains are not only better for the environment but also make more money for the company. This new thinking is not easy, Anderson said. “It has taken 13 years of innovation and determination to abandon the comfort of the status quo and to transform the way we do business.”

Among the results he noted: “Costs are down, the business case to eliminate waste is clear, the products are the best they’ve ever been, and people are galvanized around a shared higher purpose of zero waste or harmful emissions and 100 percent renewable material.” While the process may seem to be inordinately difficult, Anderson said, “If we can do it, anyone can. Colleges and universities can be part of the problem or part of the solution to climate change and biological decline. Will you wake up to the challenge of changing the status quo and focus on a sustainable future? Will you teach new or old thinking?”

He suggested that presidents and academic administrators begin to think about changing what is taught. For example, he said, engineering students should study new green methods and techniques; economics students should learn about the cost to society and the environment of global warming; law students should learn to go beyond compliance and embrace ethical behavior; and agriculture students should learn to produce organic, self-rotating, pesticide-free, fertilizer-free, perennial crops. Anderson concluded by noting that “a new industrial revolution is underway—Rachel Carson’s revolution. The call is clear: come aboard—now! The time for pondering has passed.”

Cortese, who is also co-director of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and former head of the Department of Environmental Protection in Massachusetts, took up the call and challenged presidents to help make a sustainable society a reality. “We produce knowledge. We prepare professionals who influence society’s institutions…. Presidents must convene all parts of the college to set an example and lead the cultural shift.” Although Cortese acknowledged that no single institution can solve the problem, “the positive impact of a collective commitment will be huge.” He urged presidents to review and sign onto the “Climate Commitment,” launched in December 2006 as a “high-visibility commitment to address greenhouse gases and accelerate research and development on sustainability.” Presidents who sign the commitment agree to take immediate steps to develop a comprehensive plan to achieve climate neutrality, reduce greenhouse gases, and make the college’s action plan, inventory, and progress reports publicly available. He noted that several CIC members are part of the steering committee. In one year, 456 presidents, including 101 CIC members, have signed the commitment, representing 3.5 million students.

“Today’s students and children will see the worst effects of climate change if we don’t address the problem now. It is the right thing to do, and it has to be done…. If we share the goal and we put our minds, hearts, and backs into the effort, we can unleash breakthroughs, push the limits of knowledge (the primary thrust of higher education), challenge the status quo, and create alternative ways of looking at things.” Cortese concluded, “If higher education doesn’t lead this effort, who will?”