Demands for the UMD Administration
As President Loh once said in a speech, "we are the first generation to feel the full effects of climate change and the last generation that can do anything about it."
Climate scientists here at UMD and around the world have warned that we must all take immediate action to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, otherwise the future of civilization itself is at risk. On the 20th of September, 2019, young people around the world are striking to urge immediate action at every level.
The University of Maryland must finally do what it should have done decades ago, and accelerate its action to combat climate change. We must:
-
Teach all students how to not destroy our life support systems.
-
End our direct use of fossil fuels.
-
Divest from any direct and indirect holdings in the fossil fuel industry
​
On September 20, 2019, our requests will be sent to President Wallace Loh and other UMD administrators on behalf of the first generation to feel the full effects of climate change and the last generation that can do anything about it.
1. Teach all students how to not destroy our life support systems.
Human activity is causing a mass extinction of life on our planet. We have lost 83 percent of all wild animals and 50 percent of all plants globally. As Professor David Orr once said, "As we destroy nature, we will be destroyed in the process. There's no escaping that conclusion."
Avoiding planetary collapse, a mission more gently coined "sustainability," must be pervasive throughout education. Most students outside of environmental majors or minors never learn the basic ecology, environmental systems, sustainable technologies or policy designs needed to ensure sustained climate action. An understanding of how to rapidly shift from unsustainable to sustainable systems must be part of every student's education. UMD must join the scores of other universities that have made sustainability a general education requirement. To not do so is irresponsible and inexcusable.
Commit to a sustainability education requirement for all incoming students.
​
The immense scale of the climate crisis demands that all young people be adequately informed about climate change and complex environmental systems. As a leading higher education institution, the University should incorporate environmental sustainability into its general education requirements starting in 2020, and as such, should invest in additional sustainability courses, faculty, and campus programming.
2. End our direct use of fossil fuels.
​
Our campus power plant uses half of the natural gas consumed by the entire Maryland government, including all 12 USM institutions and 31 state agencies/entities, making it a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. The life cycle emissions of natural gas from methane leaks, transport and refinement make it an unjustifiable energy source for a leading research university. Instead of relying on carbon offsets, which do little to improve our campus performance, UMD should end its use of natural gas and construct a new thermal energy system that can be completely powered by renewable electricity/fuel.
Additionally, UMD should commit to only purchasing zero emissions vehicles from this point forward, to reduce the thousands of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel annually in its fleet vehicles.
3. Divest from any direct and indirect holdings in the fossil fuel industry.
​
UMD, via the University System of Maryland Foundation, currently makes financial contributions to fossil fuel companies through its investment funds. UMD must divest from companies that extract, refine, or distribute fossil fuels including coal, petroleum and natural gas, and from mutual funds that invest in such companies. Hypocritically, we continue to profit from destructive natural gas extraction and indirectly off of coal and oil use, all of which threaten the way of life of University community members and pose an indefensible risk to our natural environment. Our investments should support the companies that are making our world more livable, not the companies that threaten our survival.