The radical environmental movement is determined to erase the fun in life to save the planet.
But no one thought they would take their crusade against carbon emissions this far.
And Ron DeSantis was speechless when the green lobby launched this attack on college football.
College football conferences are expanding from coast to coast
Florida is one of the epicenters of college football in the country.
The state annually produces one of the biggest crops of high school football recruits for colleges nationally.
And the Sunshine State boasts some of the most notable college programs of the last 40 years.
Florida State University, the University of Miami, and the University of Florida have all won national championships this century.
But the landscape of college football is changing with conference realignment.
Conferences were originally organized by colleges that were close to each other in a region of the country.
Now the latest round of realignment has seen conferences stretch from coast to coast.
The Big 10 expanded from being a Midwest-centric conference to adding schools in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Miami, after expansion in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) this offseason, is set to play at new conference foe California Berkeley in the San Francisco Bay area this fall.
Environmental activists are worried about college football’s carbon emissions
The most recent round of conference realignment in college football has extreme environmental activists worried about a spike in greenhouse gas emissions as teams travel across the country.
An Arizona State study found that the recent round of ACC and Big 10 expansion will create a substantial increase in greenhouse gases.
Arizona State professor Ross Maciejewski told AZ Central what has happened with realignment is unprecedented.
“We’ve never had such a massive, massive realignment in terms of distances,” Maciejewski said.
The study cites California Berkeley’s football schedule this season which features ACC conference games in Texas, North Carolina, New York, and Florida.
“Instead of the Atlantic Coast Conference, you’re the All Coast Conference,” Maciejewski said.
“Yet, we contend that there is potential to strike a more optimal balance between the benefits and environmental costs of these realignments,” the study said. “One potential avenue for achieving this goal is to consider the geographical proximity and competitive skill levels of schools when making realignment decisions.”
Researchers said that colleges should consider greenhouse gas emissions when putting together schedules in the future.
“By aligning schools that are closer to each other both geographically and in terms of performance, tradition, and academic mission, it may be possible to reduce the carbon footprint associated with travel as well as maintain the excitement of games,” the study added.
Fans traveling across the country to watch their favorite teams play would also lead to increased emissions according to the study.
There are plenty of reasons to oppose the most recent round of college football realignment that turned the University of Iowa versus the University of Southern California into a Big Ten conference matchup.
But greenhouse gas emissions are not one of them.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
