ENVIRONMENT
Oberlin Joins Higher Ed Carbon Pricing Initiative oberlin president carmen twillie ambar signed a letter in December 2018 calling on national and local elected officials to enact a carbon pricing policy. Ambar joins more than 20 college and university presidents who have signed the Higher Education Carbon Pricing Initiative. Carbon pricing is widely regarded as a low-cost, efficient way to create jobs in clean energy and other sectors and generate economic benefits. The open letter urges state and federal lawmakers to proactively work to enact legislation that would put a price on carbon emissions and transition to a cleanenergy economy. “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 letter states. “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.” Oberlin has long been a leader in supporting initiatives that place colleges and universities at the forefront of the movement toward environmental sustainability. “It is important that we support efforts to fight climate change on our campus,” Ambar says, “but we must also encourage policymakers to adopt legislation that will foster growth in clean energy and enable future generations to thrive.” The Higher Education Carbon Pricing Endorsement Initiative is led by Our Climate in partnership with the National Geographic documentary series Years of Living Dangerously. Our Climate mobilizes and empowers young people to educate the public and elected officials about science-based, equitable climate policy solutions that build a livable world. It leads the #PutAPriceOnIt campaign, which recruits, trains, and supports student leaders across the country to advocate for carbon pricing. OBERLIN ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2019 / SPRING
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