U-M Sustainability Expert Perspectives

The ConversationU-M sustainability experts regularly contribute to The Conversation, a free and independent source of news and views from the academic and research community. This Blog has received international praise for promoting content from university scholars and researchers with deep expertise in their subject.

12/10/2025
From FIFA to the LA Clippers, carbon offset scandals are exposing the gap between sports teams’ green promises and reality
Brian P. McCullough, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan
Edward Carrington, Assistant in Research in Sports Management, University of Michigan

If you go to a pro sports event today, there’s a good chance the stadium or arena will be powered at least in part by renewable energy. The team likely takes steps to reduce energy and waste. Some even claim to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, meaning any emissions they still do produce they offset by paying for projects, such as tree-planting, that reduce greenhouse gases elsewhere. Read More.

10/9/2025
Refinery fires, other chemical disasters may no longer get safety investigations
Philip Steenstra, Ph.D. Candidate in Toxicology, University of Michigan
Rachel O’Brien, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
Stuart Batterman, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Global Public Health, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan

When fire erupted at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. bulk liquid petroleum storage terminal, large plumes of dark smoke billowed into the clear skies over Deer Park, Texas. Despite the efforts of site staff and local firefighters, more than 70 million gallons of petroleum products burned or were otherwise released into the environment over the following three days in March 2019. Read More.

9/22/2025
A Great Lakes oil pipeline faces 3 controversies with no speedy resolutions
Mike Shriberg, Professor of Practice & Engagement, School for Environment & Sustainability; Director of the University of Michigan Water Center, University of Michigan

For more than a decade, controversy over an oil pipeline that passes directly through a Native American reservation and then across a sensitive waterway that is also a key shipping lane has brewed in Wisconsin and Michigan. Read More.

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