Environment expert advises students on energy, climate

In a presentation about climate and energy concerns, environmental expert Danny Orlando stirred up students and faculty with thought-provoking questions such as:

"How many of you act like you live on a planet?" Orlando said.

The audience remained silent after the question, which was posed as part of a presentation titled "Storms and Opportunities: A Planetary Energy and Climate Discussion." 

About 150 gathered for the presentation, which took place Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Cape Florida Ballroom of the Student Union.

Orlando is the southeastern U.S. regional program manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Program.

He followed with eyebrow-raising statistics that were meant to show how rapidly Earth's climate is changing. He said there are 12 percent fewer birds, 46 percent fewer fish and 23 percent fewer mammals on Earth now than there were since life began. He also said fossil fuels account for 80 percent of Florida's energy consumption.

Orlando also displayed pictures and graphs that showed the melting polar ice caps in Antarctica, increased water levels along coastal regions of Florida and the shrinkage of major species and forests around the planet. Orlando described the planet as "incredibly endangered"  for the projected population of seven billion by 2013.

"We are pushing the planet to measures we haven't seen before," Orlando said.

However, Orlando said there is hope for the future as many states are turning to alternative energy sources. Wind turbines as well as thermal and solar energy are becoming more common in the U.S., he said. 

It is possible for the energy from the wind turbines in the states of North Dakota, Kansas and Texas to provide power for the entire United States, according to Orlando. Orlando believes that this will bode well not only for the environment but also the country's economy, as the U.S. will no longer depend on oil from the Middle East.

Orlando said students currently in college will be the "programmers" of the Earth's fate. He said these students only have a couple of decades to fix the planet's current problems.

Orlando stressed every person's responsibility to better the planet, calling it a "unified movement." He said simple activities such as using reusable bags when shopping, changing from standard florescent light bulbs to compact light bulbs and replacing older less-efficient appliances with newer, more energy efficient ones, will help the planet. 

Orlando said he keeps track of the kilowatt-hours each appliance in his house uses to help maintain a low-cost energy bill.

Tracy Wilk, a senior political science major and Student Government Association environmental and sustainability specialist, said SGA is pushing the Florida Legislature to pass the Green Fee, which would impose a 75-cent per-credit-hour fee to support UCF's sustainability initiatives. 

Wilk said more events like this one should be held to increase student awareness and benefit the green movement.

Carol Ann Pohl, associate director of undergraduate programs in the department of civil and environmental engineering, said she was pleased with the discussion Orlando had with students.

"Our department is trying to bring people from different spectrums to broaden their knowledge," Pohl said.

Dr. Lakshmi N. Reddi, chairman of the civil, environmental and construction engineering department, along with the Global Perspectives office at UCF, invited Orlando to speak as part of the department's distinguished lecture series. The next Global Perspectives event, titled Global Terrorism in 2009: Assessing the Changing Threat, will be held Oct. 6 in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union.