The petitions call for the university to change to clean, renewable energy by no later than 2040, and for all electricity on the campus to come from renewable sources by 2030.
Bobby Vose is Public Interest Research Group’s (PIRG) Campaign Coordinator for 100% renewable energy at USF. Vose helped collect the petitions and will be delivering them with the other members of the PIRG team to Law’s office on Monday morning.
“This is my future and my generation’s future, and I just feel like it’s something that we can mitigate,” Vose, 20, who is majoring in Environmental Science and Policy, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “I know my fellow team members feel the same way, and we hope President Law will be there to have a conversation with us on Monday.”
USF has not yet responded to CL’s inquiry about whether or not Law will be there on Monday, and if the president supports the movement toward renewable energy.
Since January of 2021, Vose and others have been collecting signatures via tabling, canvassing, speaking at events and spreading online petitions. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with students and USF faculty showing support for their efforts.
But there have been detractors, who when asked for a signature, have claimed that it’s not possible to operate USF on renewable energy.
“The entire University of California system is committed, and so many other universities across the country have already made a commitment, on top of entire cities,” Vose said. “So it’s absolutely possible. It’s just a matter of doing it.”
Veri Diníz is a fellow campaign organizer with Vose and has been collection petition signatures since September of 2021.
“I believe a healthy environment is linked to human rights, and to protect humanity we have to protect the earth,” Diníz, 23, who is majoring in International Relations and Anthropology, said.
Both Diníz and Vose pointed out that the impacts of climate change and climate catastrophe often harm the most vulnerable populations first. People with low-income, along with Black, Brown and Indigenous communities are often the first to be impacted by dangerous conditions brought on by climate change.
Diníz hopes that on Monday, President Law will be there to hear about these urgent topics, especially since the petitions will be presented right after Earth Day.
“Hopefully she is there so we can talk a little bit of our campaign and some of the feedback from students,” Diníz said. “Whenever we table and talk to them, the majority are very passionate. They really care about the environment.”
The USF Students have received support from other organizations as well. Brooke Errett, Senior Florida Organizer for Food & Water Watch—who helped push for 100% renewable energy in the City of Tampa—said that her group supports the student’s efforts.
“As a major stakeholder in Hillsborough County, USF’s commitment to end our unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels is imperative in transitioning our community to clean, renewable energy,” Errett said. “The efforts of the USF Florida Student PIRG students exemplifies the student and community support for a just transition off of these dirty energies.”
Errett called on Rep. Kathy Castor to follow their lead and support bold federal policies like the Future Generations Protection Act that end reliance on fossil fuels and fracked gas power plants.
Vose said that no matter what happens on Monday, he hopes to continue the effort to push for renewable energy throughout the entire USF school system.
“We have worked with the student Green Energy Fund at USF St. Pete,” Vose said. “And that is one of the things that we’re talking about doing next semester, is expanding over into the other campuses, both St. Pete and Sarasota-Manatee, to continue the momentum.”
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2022.