Universities to participate in environmental partnership
The University of Oklahoma will partner with universities in Mexico and Canada to studyways to develop and promote environmentally friendly products.
The partnerships announced Wednesday were developed as part of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an association of the environmental agencies from the United States, Canada and Mexico. The group held its annual meeting this week in Oklahoma City, with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt acting as host.
“The countries on the North American continent working together to improve environmental outcomes is a good and important thing,” Pruitt said in an interview Wednesday morning. “That collaboration, that intentionality to address it, that’s what the CEC is about, bringing our countries together and recognizing we have issues to work on together and collaborating to provide solutions.”
As part of the collaborative effort, OU’s Tom Love Innovation Hub will partner with Canada’s Simone Frasier University and Mexico’s University of Queretaro and Anahuac University.
“It’s a very exciting opportunity to showcase the innovative thinking we have in Oklahoma and the exciting model we’ve been able to develop,” said Tom Wavering, the innovation hub’s executive director. “It will help us reach a broader audience and expand the range of perspectives we’re able to bring in, and it will enrich both the education our students receive as well as the members of the community we’re able to work with.”
Researching the weather together
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation also announced a series of collaborative efforts involving the National Weather Center in Norman. The group formed an advisory group to study how to best use data collected at the weather center to address environment concerns throughout the continent.
“It will bring together North American expertise and research for issues including extreme temperatures, drought and wildfires,” Jane Nishida, principal deputy assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs, said during Wednesday afternoon’s CEC session.
The National Weather Center staff also will work with experts in Mexico and Canada to update and enhance the group’s North American atlas, which maps critical environmental areas and concerns throughout the continent.
“The important thing is there’s a commitment by each of the respective countries to put the advisory group together to explore how the National Weather Center can work with its counterparts in Mexico and Canada and see how we can have better coordination with respect to these issues on weather that impacts our environment,” Pruitt said.
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation is designed to support cooperation among the North American Free Trade Agreement partners to address environmental issues. The group is part of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, which was developed at the same time as the free trade agreement.
Despite threats from the Donald Trump Administration to end NAFTA, Pruitt said the Commission for Environmental Cooperation is strong.
“The progress made here has been substantial,” Pruitt said. “I’m encouraged, and I know the other participants are as well. This is exactly what should occur between the respective countries. It will happen with trade, and it will happen with environmental issues. We have demonstrated today that good things are happening.”