The American higher education enterprise has the capacity and fortitude to confront many of the country's most pressing energy and environmental challenges. Many institutions and state college systems are using campus resources to carry out grassroots environmental initiatives. These activities have yielded important environmental, educational, and economic dividends. Continued campus efforts will be most successful to the extent that policymakers provide leadership and support to advance common environmental agendas. According to the 2008 College Sustainability Report Card, the proportion of institutions committed to reductions in carbon emissions increased from 14 percent in 2007 to 50 percent in 2008. This paper first presents a background of key changes college campuses can make to limit emissions and provide institutional savings. Also provided is an analysis of creative campus-level efforts yielding key economic, educational and environmental dividends. Finally, leadership and legislative efforts are highlighted to demonstrate how state and federal policies and partnerships can effectively enhance campus-level efforts to invest in the next generation of technologies, practices and leaders. Lists of national and state and local resources are provided. (Contains 4 footnotes.)