Yale's Plan to be the Greenest University

‘A Big Difference’Yale President Richard Levin explains his plan to make his university the greenest in the United States.

Jan. 26, 2007 - Global warming is one of the most-talked-about topics in Davos
this year. But for many gathered in the Swiss mountain town for the
annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, mere talk isn’t enough. “We
cannot wait for our governments to act,” Yale President Richard Levin
told delegates on Thursday. “Large organizations with the power to act
independently should take matters into their own hands and begin to
reduce greenhouse-gas emissions now.”
Levin has made good on his own call, implementing a program that he
hopes will make Yale the greenest university in the United States. He
spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Arlene Getz in Davos about his strategy and its
progress. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What prompted you to implement this program?
Richard Levin:
Global warming is real, and human activity is a major contributing
factor, so it was clear that something had to be done. We concluded a
year ago that the reduction of greenhouse gases [at Yale] is both
feasible and not prohibitively expensive.