Academic institutions represent the best forums for objective discussions about the relationship between humans and environment. Today, the need to explore the foundations of academic programs related to the environment is more important than ever before. Advancing sustainability means, in part, connecting human interests and values to the themes of energy, environment, enterprise, and health. The thinking necessary to advance sustainability is key to rebuilding economies and is therefore in the wheelhouse of the interdisciplinary environmental academic programs found at many colleges and universities. This article explains how advancing sustainability forces the evolution of interdisciplinary environmental academic programs so they equip students to cope with the profoundly new environmental agenda.