Students Vote to Increase Fees, Offset 100% of Energy Use On Campus
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 05. 2.07
Well, here’s a twist you might not expect… College students with an eye for the political landscape on campus at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon actually were able to pass a proposal adding a $15 fee to every college bill to ensure clean energy on campus by a clear majority of 85% of the student body. And I’m thinking that maybe the members of the House and the Senate can take a hint from these brave college students, because they’ll now have the distinction of becoming the first campus in their state to offset 100% of its electricity and natural gas usage with renewable energy. How’d they do it? Well, the old fashioned way…
Led by Students for a Sustainable Future they first did their research on what it would take and how much it would cost, and then they looked for models of how other schools like Western Washington University and Evergreen State College pulled it of. They soon realized that a democratic approach was the best one because the students themselves would get to decide whether their campus was a green one. Then they had to debate whether to “go small” and offset 25% or %50 of energy use, or “go big” and push for what no other school in Oregon and possibly the US is doing; a 100% offset of both electricity and natural gas. Ultimately they decided to “go big”, and the results prove the voters were willing to back them up. So here’s to a brighter tomorrow, thanks to the actions of the many and the few at SOU. Let’s hope other schools take their lead as well…
I don't know when they passed this but Oregon State University last Friday did the same exact thing:
http://asosu.oregonstate.edu/
Hm. Maybe they should have polled the parents...you know, the ones who actually pay the $15. Not that it's a big price, hey, I'd pay it, but when I was in college, money that got billed to my parents had NO value in my head.
Hi, I'm one of the people who lead the Green Tag campaign for SOU, I wanted to clarify regarding Matt's comment. SOU is the first campus in Oregon to offset both 100% of electricity and natural gas. OSU did 100% electricity offsetting. We know of one campus in Maine that has gone further than us by offsetting transportation too. As far as we can see, SOU is the first public university to offset both gas and electricty in the US, we are trying to find out for sure.
and who says "no new taxes" is what people want to hear?
do it right. we'll pay for it.
now that's a message!
SOU should explore efficiency, particularly the leaky steam loop around campus.
I used to work for a company that did business with SOU and the steam loop is a known issue.
Fixing the steam loop once will avoid all of the future annual purchases for offsets for the natural gas consumption.
The efficiency is more cost-effective than a new higher than necessary fee in perpetuity.
I don't work for SOU, but I do know that SOU has been successful in reducing the consumption of electricity by 10% and natural gas by 20% for the current fiscal year compared to last fiscal year! These savings are primarily due to improved operations and maintenance practices and programs. SOU also did wide spread lighting retrofits around campus eliminating PCB ballasts and upgrading to more efficient T8 flourescent lamp technology. And, the school is currently in the design phases of a boiler plant renewal project that will dramatically improve efficiency and reduce consumption in the future of natural gas.
Regarding the misconception in the above comment that the Green Fee is "in perpetuity," the SOU students voted to insate the fee for 3 years, at which time there would be another vote. The Green Fee will not only offset 100% of the kWh usage and natural gas emmissions of the school (and all the environmental and economic benefits associated with buying renewable power for the grid), the fee will also fund more solar on campus.
Also noteworthy: each year the fee will be adjusted (decreased) to reflect the decreased energy consumption. The students will pay less each year because of the energy conservation successes.
Go SOU!