An article in the Times reported that a meeting between President Hu of China and President Obama prompted Obama to commit to reaching an agreement at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen that will have immediate effect.  After a deadlock in negotiations leading up to the conference in three weeks has left little room for a possible agreement being reached.  However, Obama officials indicate that a  break in the deadlock will come when the President announces a provisional target of cutting US emissions by 20% by 2020.  Critics are confident that such a commitment is the ambition that is needed to move toward a successful meeting in Copehagen.  Read the article from the Times here.  What do you think?  Is the goal of reducing emissions by 20% a realistic one?  Will this commitment by the US and China be the push needed to get a global commitment to reduction?

On November 5th, many brilliant minds came together here at UCF in a conference to discuss the implications of climate change on national and global security.  Read the article from the UCF Newsroom to learn more!  If you attended the conference, blog about it!  We’d love to hear about a student or faculty’s perspective.  Â

We are announcing a unique grant opportunity for your department’s faculty and students - EPA’s P3 - People, Prosperity and the Planet - Program. Through this design competition, student teams and their faculty advisors apply for $10,000 grants to design scientific, technical, and policy solutions to sustainability challenges in the developed or developing world.

The challenge addressed by these projects can be in any of these areas:

*energy,

* built environment,

* materials & chemicals,

*agriculture, or

*water.

Past P3 teams have explored more efficient ways to produce biofuels, developed simple water treatment technologies for developing communities, produced a technology to measure real-time energy use in buildings, reduced hazardous substance use in laboratories through improved information and purchasing practices, designed and built an educational “learning barge” for the Elizabeth River, VA , and designed an innovative system for the bioremediation of agricultural chemicals.

Teams use the $10,000 grants to design and develop their projects throughout the 2010/2011 school year. Then in the spring of 2011, all teams will come to Washington, DC, to compete for EPA’s P3 Award at the 7th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo. The students’ projects will be evaluated by a panel of experts convened by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in all relevant fields, including sustainability. EPA will use these recommendations to choose the P3 Award winners who will be eligible for an additional grant up to $75,000 to further develop their designs, implement them in the field, and take them to the marketplace.

Applications are due by January 5, 2010.

Visit our Web site for more information and to view the P3 program videos.

For information abou this request for applications, click here.

For basic information, click here.

Ever hear the phrase “you are what you eat”? Well, if you want to dramatically lower your carbon footprint, consider a more Earth-friendly diet! Choosing local and organic food everyday can really make a change that will not only make you feel better, but can help heal the world too. On November 16th, Student Government, Student Sustainability Alliance and BARC will be coming together to host “Good Eats for Earth”. With speakers from around the Orlando community as well as FREE Earth Friendly food, you can learn all about how easy and delicious it is to eat to reduce your carbon footprint. Grab some food, information, and enjoy yourself at this great event. Good Eats for Earth will be on November 16th at 1PM in the Student Union, Cape Florida. Email Tracy at sga_env@mail.ucf.edu with any questions.