Since 2010, the University of Wyoming has worked to reduce its total carbon emissions to become carbon neutral by 2050 as part of the Climate Action Plan.
The action plan is divided into three phases that aim to develop strategies and guides for reducing carbon emissions at UW and making it a more sustainable establishment overall.
For Phase One, they worked on reducing energy consumption, replacing all lighting with lower emission light blubs, and investigating wind and solar options for the campus.
Phase one took place from 2010 to 2015, and it worked toward reducing carbon emissions going forward.
For Phase Two, they began planning the more extensive scale wind and solar options and raising enough funds to offset the energy use of the Student Union through purchasing Renewable Energy Credits.
Phase two took place from 2015 to 2020, and it continued to reduce carbon emissions by 25%.
In Phase Three, the university is working toward upgrading the Central Energy Plant, a campus supply-side large-scale renewable energy project, and purchasing renewable energy credits and carbon offsets.
Phase three is currently happening and is working towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Despite this effort, in April of 2019, the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS) gave the University of Wyoming a bronze rating, which is the lowest rating they give out.
This ranking is based on sustainability activities across campus, student engagement, and planning for how to help with climate change and carbon emissions.
In a survey conducted by ASUW, 1600 students said they believe in climate change, 40 students do not believe in climate change, 141 believe that climate change can be slowed down and 117 students believe that climate change is happening because of an unknown cause.
The university has continued its efforts to reduce its emissions and improve its rating in the future and has also encouraged students to recycle.
On May 5, 2019, a member of the UW community reported their findings on greenhouse gasses emitted on campus in 2018. Emissions went down 26.6% in 2018 according to the report.
The three most prominent emission sources were Direct Transportation contributed 41.1%, Other On-Campus Stationery contributed 35.9%, and Solid Waste contributed 7.44% to the overall carbon emissions on campus in 2018 according to the report.
