After growing up in a small, progressive town, I don’t think I truly understood the global climate crisis until I was released, aka went to college, from what felt like my bubble. I was shocked, and unpleasantly surprised, about how common daily practices for me, such as recycling, using reusable water bottles or shopping local, […]

This page was developed in partnership with Second Nature's member institutions to help accelerate the work of racial and climate justice in, and through, higher education. “Climate justice links human rights and development to achieve a human-centered approach, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and […]

Resources Are you looking to accelerate your climate policy foundational knowledge? You can use this page as a starting point. We understand that there is a ton of information out there, and that climate policies and initiatives can change rapidly. Which is why when we come across items that we think can help be great […]

Public policy can either advance efforts to combat climate change, or hinder them. In Second Nature’s aim to continue to accelerate climate action by leveraging the strengths of the higher education sector, engaging in advocacy in support of green policy initiatives is an important part of that work. Our Advocacy is Focused In […]

Monthly Policy Updates Providing you with current information on climate policy initiatives and legislation within your state (and on the federal and global levels when relevant) is one way that we are able to take climate action. On the second Thursday of every month, we send out a Monthly Policy Update, and you can always […]

Advocacy Efforts With Our Partners Climate action takes all of us.  Which is why we work in conjunction with many of our partner organizations on advocacy efforts.  These activities can include everything from providing you with sign-on letter opportunities, information about upcoming policy-focused webinars a partner is hosting, cross-sector advocacy opportunities and more.  You can […]

Advocacy Letters & Initiatives Below you will find information on, and copies of, letters and initiatives that Second Nature implemented solo or in conjunction with some of our partners and other organizations. Note that information on the general advocacy letter sign-on opportunities we have shared out to you on behalf of many of our partners, […]

Higher Education Institutions Across the United States Support a Strong 2030 U.S. Climate Target On Thursday, April 8, 2021, a letter from 75 diverse higher education institutions from across the United States – spanning 29 states – was sent to President Biden urging his administration to adopt a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. […]

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UC3 convened subject matter experts from across North America to discuss Higher Education's Role in Advancing Carbon Pricing. This preliminary brief includes a menu of options for college and university leaders who want to engage on this issue internally on their campuses or externally with cross-sector partners.

Powersuite, a platform developed by the Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) tracks and aggregates the latest state and federal policy documents, legislative bills and regulatory issues from 52 state legislatures, Congress, every Public Utility Commission (PUC), and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Learn how Powersuite can support campuses in understanding how energy policy impact campus […]

As any fan of the West Wing (or real-live politics for that matter) knows, the idea of a “proportional response” is well-known. In essence, the idea is that retaliation for an action taken against a government should be relatively similar to the original affront. Often this is a military context: if a country bombs an […]