University of Florida Student Senate passes series of resolutions known as ‘Green New Deal for UF’
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida’s [UF] student government unanimously passed a series of resolutions on Tuesday, known as the “Green New Deal for UF.”
The move marks the first elected student body at a public university to call for Green New Deal legislation.
The five-volume resolution was pushed for at the school by the Youth Action Fund, a Gen-Z organization that provides financial resources and strategic guidance to young activists in Florida.
According to the movement, the document calls for “drastic on-campus action” to address the climate crisis, including immediate implementation of the UF Department of Sustainability’s “Climate Action Plan 2.0,” timely disclosure regarding UF’s investments and financial ties within the private sector, divestment of UF’s 2.3 billion dollar endowment from all entities belonging to the fossil fuel industry, prohibition of any additional funding from the fossil fuel industry to facilitate research at UF and inclusion of historically neglected and most-impacted communities to ensure a just transition away from fossil fuels.
It also calls for elected officials across the state to reform and implant similar measures across all public universities in Florida.
The school’s student senate oversees $20 million in funding and their president has a voting member position on the board of trustees.
The executive director of Youth Action Fund, and Green New Deal for UF coordinator, Cameron Driggers, expressed his enthusiasm for the resolution and its passage.
“This is a momentous milestone for the climate movement. By following up huge wins at private institutions like NYU, students at UF have now placed even more pressure on public universities to meet the moment by taking action on the greatest crisis of our time,” Driggers said.
The Green New Deal, made popular by left wing environmental activists like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is a large economic and social reform effort to transition the United States away from fossil fuels and into green energy.
