Recently in Paris, the international politicians came together to determine how to address climate change. Here at UMBC, President Hrabowski signed the "American Campus Act on Climate Pledge" organized by the White House, to demonstrate support for strong international climate action during the recent talks in Paris.
At the start of the spring semester, students concerned about climate change, the environment, and social justice are coming together to plan for the semester, and identify what we as citizens and as a community of higher education will do about climate change and environmental sustainability. With several student led groups and initiatives tacking today's environmental problems, meeting together every semester to identify opportunities for greater collaboration, broader impact, and strategic goal setting has led to a greener campus. Student have led initiatives that have begin generating solar power on campus, growing food on campus, and guiding campus policies on energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and addressing our transportation and waste footprints.
If you are interested in getting involved, be sure to take part in the student sustainability summit on Friday, January 29th. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mQZDDM22bqkJSo8_Ab_uD9i4AL3inYqRv8WpipFGKZs/viewform
What are students at UMBC saying about Climate Change?
When[Senator] Bernie Sanders claims that climate change is the biggest security threat right now, this is what he's talking about. Over the summer, I went to a lecture by Dr. Richard Alley (researcher and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) on this very topic. Regions of the world that suffer most from climate change are becoming more and more economically and politically unstable as they deal with drought and other effects of climate change. There are direct links between environmental instability and political instability, especially for nations that depend heavily on their own environmental conditions for resources (instead of exploiting others' resources like we do). By contributing far more to climate change than those who suffer most from it, we are directly contributing to terrorism and war.
- Karina Keefe, Environmental Engineering Student, Students for Environmental Awareness & SGA
We the people need to come together in a grassroots effort to make these goals a reality. We need to make changes on the ground. We need to hold our officials accountable. We also need to elect a senate that will ratify the treaty into law and not let if all through the cracks. We need to learn from the Kyoto Protocol!
- Shane Wellnitz, Environmental Science Student, Environmental Task Force
As a public research university, UMBC's teaching and research and campus practices will lead the way in developing a more sustainable society, by engaging in innovation, testing new solutions, and gathering evidence for how we can improve the efficiency and impact of our community. From faculty, to students and staff, a broad and impressive network is already working towards new solutions that reduce our dependence on scare and polluting resources such as coal and oil.
Student organizations, faculty researchers, Breaking ground courses, and staff committees are striving to address climate change, culturally, technically, and politically. To learn more, provide suggestions, and get involved email sustainability@umbc.edu.
You can also learn more at the following link:
http://sustainability.umbc.edu/energy-climate/
