Partner: FSU Emergency Management

Project: Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment

Student: Sina Jangjoo

INTRODUCTION

The Willow Project is an oil exploration and drilling project headed by the company ConocoPhillips, which has been recently approved by President Biden. It opens up the North Slope in Alaska for a new drilling project—the largest in decades. The project is steeped in controversy, both from within Alaska and outside of it. Social media such as TikTok has garnered a huge wave of opposition, #StopWillow gained more than 500 million views, and a Change.org petition received nearly three million signatures.

This blog post was written by Bill Edmonds, Ph.D., who handles communications for FSU’s Institute for Successful Longevity. 

How big of an environmental benefit comes from cycling to campus when compared to driving?  

The carbon savings may surprise you. Let’s look at my numbers. 

Disclaimer: This opinion piece was written by an individual member of our staff and does not necessarily reflect the views of the entire Sustainable Campus office. 

The current conversation around climate change often looks to pin the blame on someone: is it our fault, or is it the corporations operating around the globe? The answer isn’t exactly that simple, and pinning the blame too far in one direction may do more harm than good. 

For many people, the concept of sustainability is abstract and hard to visualize. In fact, we’re more used to seeing what sustainability isn’t than what it is. We know that things like pollution, non-renewable resources, and energy waste are unsustainable, but the better alternatives are talked about far less. It’s rare for conversations about sustainability to go beyond what we’re doing wrong and explore what we can do right. This spring, sustainable organizations at FSU are trying to have that conversation.

Human activity is the primary contributor to many environmental harms. According to the Population Reference Bureau, 1.2 billion people (or 20%) of the global population live in biodiversity hotspots. These areas tend to be in developing nations with high population growth rates and limited reproductive health services.

The past few weeks, we've reached out to some of our alumni from Sustainable Campus to find out what they have been up to, their favorite parts about working with Sustainable Campus, and how they integrate sustainability into their current work. This week, we'll be hearing from MC Levy, who was one of our previous Eco-Reps Coordinators, and she also ran Take Back The Tap!

Tell us about yourself, your pronouns, what you do for work/are currently studying, and when you became interested in sustainability.

Climate Corner: The Inflation Reduction Act

The past few weeks, we've reached out to some of our alumni from Sustainable Campus to find out what they have been up to, their favorite parts about working with Sustainable Campus, and how they integrate sustainability into their current work. This week, we'll be hearing from Alvaro Gabaldon, who works for the Planning Commission of Hillsborough County!

Tell us about yourself, your pronouns, what you do for work/are currently studying, and when you became interested in sustainability.