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Research Article Open access CC BY 3.0

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Goals at Public Institutions: The Case of a Land-Grant University

Ryan M. Yonk, R. Christopher Martin, Kayla Dawn Harris

Journal of Economics, Management and Trade · pp. 533–549 · Published 23 Sep 2013

10.9734/BJEMT/2013/3971

Abstract

Aims: We apply several theories to the problem of greenhouse gas emission and energy consumption reduction goals at large public institutions. We discuss the history of the movement for reduced greenhouse gas emissions at universities and introduce a case university. We test our case university’s energy consumption for evidence of reductions. Methodology: We develop two base OLS model for on-campus energy consumption. We build time series elements into the models to test for statistically significant reductions in monthly energy consumption. Results: We do not find evidence for reduced energy consumption at the case university over the twelve year time period (n=146). Conclusion: Several theoretical problems make reducing energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions at large public institutions particularly challenging. The case university we analyzed has failed to make meaningful energy consumption reductions despite setting ambitious goals.

Green house gas carbon neutrality energy consumption higher education Utah State University global warming

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