On this 52nd Earth Day, we take a look at the University’s Carbon Neutrality Plan and U-M students’ role in combating climate change. This episode of The Daily Weekly examines the recent climate strike that took place on the university Diag on March 25th. Many students and clubs joined in protesting the lack of preventive actions against climate change. The strike was a part of “Fridays for the Future” – a youth-led global climate change organization, and featured the theme of “People over Profit”.
***The episode mentions the University’s “large reliance on carbon offsets. However, it should be noted that U-M is committed to eliminating—not offsetting—direct emissions by 2040.
Another note about the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality. The PCCN actually concluded its work in March 2021 with a final report of 50 recommendations for the university. The university then embraced the PCCN’s analysis and set carbon neutrality goals in May 2021 (as mentioned in the episode). You can read more about U-M goals and efforts here.****