By Ilana Williams
With petition signings from McKeldin Mall to South Campus Dining Hall, MaryPIRG Student Climate Action Coalition members are spreading the word about the Maryland FUTURE Act.
The University of Maryland’s Student Government Association and MSCAC will rally over Zoom Tuesday to support the act. If passed in the Maryland legislature, it would require many Maryland colleges to implement new sustainability and climate change prevention measures. The House hearing for the bill starts on March 1.
Here’s what to know about MSCAC and the FUTURE Act.
Almost carbon-free UMD
UMD President Darryll Pines announced in April 2021 that the university would commit to carbon neutrality by 2025, rather than 2050, the previous goal. But student climate activists continue to push for climate protections across state universities.
Since 2020, the University of Maryland has purchased 100% renewable power, but students are still concerned about campus efforts on the potential effects of climate change.
“It’s really important that the school continues to be a leader and practices what they preach in terms of sustainability by reducing emissions,” said Reese Barrett, a junior chemical engineering major and sustainability studies minor
Student sustainability groups at the University of Maryland have been advocating for the FUTURE Act to push the university to reduce its carbon footprint.
The FUTURE action focuses on carbon neutrality, which means an institution or business either produces zero carbon emissions or offsets its own emissions by reducing them in other places.
The act would require four-year colleges in Maryland to reach carbon neutrality by 2035, implement a sustainability general education requirement, establish an office of sustainability and set up a new environmental scholarship fund.
Natural history
Nina Jeffries, a senior environmental science and policy major, said most campus buildings run on natural gas. The heat and power plant that supplies UMD’s energy is located on Route 1.
Jeffries said the burning of natural gas produces sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which can cause cancer, respiratory issues and other health conditions.
“It’s absurd,” Jeffries said. “We can reduce everything else, but we cannot reduce the natural gas plant emissions.”
MSCAC evolved from Fossil Free UMD, a group that tried to persuade the university to switch its fuel source from the natural gas plant, Barrett said.
“We were eventually told ‘nope, there’s nothing you can do,’” Barrett said. “So we took that as a sign that it was important to switch gears and kind of go around that and above their head.”
Although Fossil Free UMD inspired MSCAC, the goals have shifted. If the FUTURE Act included a section to remove the gas plant, it would be expensive and have no chance of passing in Maryland, Jeffries said.
Looking to the FUTURE
Students from universities across Maryland worked together to craft the FUTURE ACT, said Naomi Franklin, a freshman environmental science and policy major.
MSCAC has gathered over 2,000 signatures in favor of the bill and is collecting written testimonies from members and other students.
The act would require all public universities in Maryland to become carbon neutral by 2035.
To improve the bill’s chances, MSCAC is working with the state appropriations committee, which reviews legislation relating to Maryland budgets in the House of the Maryland legislature.
“Those folks don’t tend to see a whole lot of climate bills,” Jeffries said. “That was one of our barriers last year when it was introduced.”
2022 vision
In 2018, UMD met its 50% carbon reduction goal — two years ahead of schedule — through carbon-neutral undergraduate commuting and carbon-neutral air travel, according to an email statement from the university.
UMD purchases natural gas from the public utility, Washington Gas, according to the statement. However, it will not sign the contract for an additional 25 to 30 years of the natural gas plant, the statement said.
Instead, the NextGen Energy Program will renew and modernize the campus energy system to decarbonize the Central Energy Plant altogether, the university statement said.
Some campus structures require natural gas-fired equipment, but the university aims to move away from natural gas, according to the statement.
“It may seem expensive to think about converting to a renewable source of energy, but it’s really the only choice that makes sense in terms of longer-term financial costs,” Barrett said.
Barrett said if students can have a conversation about sustainability and climate change, there will be advocacy for sustainable development.
“The next generation of students are going to come up with this next great idea and continue to move the campus forward,” Barrett said. “It’s all about creating the cycle of learning and growing and improving and becoming a more sustainable campus.”
Featured image: Steam near to South Campus Dining Hall makes it difficult to see the other side of the road. MSCAC gathered signatures for its petition near the dining hall before the FUTURE Act’s first hearing. Photo by llana Williams.
[Editor’s note: The original version of this story cited the name of a university spokeswoman as a source. Attribution has been changed to reflect that the information is from the university and is not the spokeswoman’s response.]