University of Florida | courses.flvc.org
The University of Florida (UF) Student Senate on Tuesday became the first student government at a public university to pass Green New Deal (GND) legislation, according to The Guardian.
The new mandate calls for complete divestment from fossil fuels, a just transition, a ban on fossil fuel-funded research, and disclosure of UF’s financial ties to the private sector.
“This is an important milestone for the climate movement. The unanimous passage of the first-ever GND resolution by UF’s elected student government has now put even more pressure on public universities to rise to the occasion by taking action on the greatest crisis of our time,” said UF student Cameron Driggers, Youth Action Fund executive director, as The Hill reported.
Climate denial is a persistent problem in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis has demonstrated support for fossil fuels, The Guardian reported. An energy resource bill is also moving through the state legislature that would remove references to climate change.
“We hope that seeing a huge campus in a red state embrace a ‘green new deal’ is a sign that this movement is spreading to other universities around the country and starting to treat this climate crisis like the crisis it is,” Driggers said , as the Guardian reported.
Driggers indicated that UF received a total of $2.3 billion in private endowment funding as of June 2022, but how the funds were invested was not publicly disclosed. University students hope the new plan will lead to more transparency.
“It’s a public university, public money, and we don’t even know what it’s being spent on,” Driggers noted, as reported by The Guardian.
On March 7, the UF Board of Trustees will decide whether to approve the financial portion of the GND.
The mandate — drafted by UF’s Office of Sustainability — calls on the university to immediately implement its Climate Action Plan, which includes a call to reduce emissions from campus traffic and buildings.
“For decades, science has argued that climate change is human-caused. It’s not even a debate anymore,” said Sophia Aviles, a third-year UF student and president of Sunrise Movement Gainesville, as The Guardian reported. “And we’re showing the government that we’re going to follow the science, not necessarily what they think should or shouldn’t be in our curricula or our state laws.”
Other universities across the country have divested from fossil fuels — including New York University and the University of Massachusetts — and pushed for climate accountability in recent years.
“The student body at the University of Florida has proven to be bold in climate solutions [are] not only possible in private institutions in liberal states, but also strongly rebukes the climate denialism of the DeSantis administration,” Driggers said, as reported by The Hill.
This article was republished by Ecowatch.
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