2008 Woodie Awards
Students pushing for referendum support
Mark Cullip
Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: News
Students are mobilizing to raise support for an SGA referendum that would call for the university to become the country's largest purchaser of renewable energy among higher education institutions.
The non-binding referendum, which was proposed on yesterday's and today's Student Government Association election ballot, asks students if they are willing to pay an eventual $12-a-year increase in student fees for the university to purchase all of students' energy needs from renewable sources.
To increase student awareness, the student group largely responsible for placing the referendum onto the ballot, UMD for Clean Energy, hosted an event in the Colony Ballroom on Monday night that attempted to galvanize students to take action against global warming.
"The most important thing to do right now is support the referendum," said speaker Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. "If College Park steps up and leads, there will be a bigger impact than just on campus; schools across the state will move in the same direction."
The event, Climate Climax, included presentations from Tidwell, Laurel Imlay of the Sierra Club, state Sen. Paul Pinsky and student groups TerPoets and Erasable Ink.
"I'm for the idea of pushing the university to be more carbon-neutral," said Pinsky (D-Prince George's). "Hopefully the university will respond."
In recent years, the university has undertaken several environmentally friendly initiatives, such as switching to biodiesel buses and composting food scraps in the dining halls. Due to the higher cost of purchasing wind or solar energy, university officials have supported improving energy efficiency instead of paying more for the renewable energy options.
Each year, the university consumes 250,000 megawatt hours of electricity, and each undergraduate requires about $409 worth of electricity, according to university and SGA leaders. The university produces half its energy needs from its own power plant, and the rest is purchased from private utility companies, said Joan Kowal, the facility administration office's energy manager.
Recent legislation requires the utilities that supply the university's electricity purchase at least 3.5 percent from renewable sources, Kowal said.
If students support the referendum, it would have no direct effect on univerisity policies, but SGA leaders hope it will send a clear message to university officials that a new energy policy is needed.
The increased fee would begin at $4 the first year and increase $2 each additional year until reaching a maximum of $12. Despite the added cost, many students appear to support the referendum.
"Twelve dollars is very little in comparison to wasting resources we can't replace," said Michael Wendt, a freshman computer engineering major.
Similar student-led campaigns to influence their universities to purchase renewable energy have spread to 539 campuses around the country, said freshman Andrew Nazdin, who works for the Sierra Student Coalition, the national student chapter of the Sierra Club.
If the university were to purchase all of student-consumed electricity from renewable sources, as the referendum suggests, it would be the largest clean energy university in the country.
Similar to this university, University of California, Santa Cruz also supplies some of its own energy needs from a campus power plant. Last year, Santa Cruz's students voted to increase their tuition by $12 each year to purchase renewable energy.
"I do not expect long-term change, but we have to get our foot in the door," said Lindsay Askew, a biology major who supports the referendum.
The referendum also takes place during Earth Week, a series of campus events that lead up to Earth Day on Sunday. Events include a speech today by Robert Kennedy Jr., an Earth Day fair on Thursday and a Sheryl Crow performance at a global warming concert on Saturday.
Contact reporter Mark Cullip at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.
The non-binding referendum, which was proposed on yesterday's and today's Student Government Association election ballot, asks students if they are willing to pay an eventual $12-a-year increase in student fees for the university to purchase all of students' energy needs from renewable sources.
To increase student awareness, the student group largely responsible for placing the referendum onto the ballot, UMD for Clean Energy, hosted an event in the Colony Ballroom on Monday night that attempted to galvanize students to take action against global warming.
"The most important thing to do right now is support the referendum," said speaker Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. "If College Park steps up and leads, there will be a bigger impact than just on campus; schools across the state will move in the same direction."
The event, Climate Climax, included presentations from Tidwell, Laurel Imlay of the Sierra Club, state Sen. Paul Pinsky and student groups TerPoets and Erasable Ink.
"I'm for the idea of pushing the university to be more carbon-neutral," said Pinsky (D-Prince George's). "Hopefully the university will respond."
In recent years, the university has undertaken several environmentally friendly initiatives, such as switching to biodiesel buses and composting food scraps in the dining halls. Due to the higher cost of purchasing wind or solar energy, university officials have supported improving energy efficiency instead of paying more for the renewable energy options.
Each year, the university consumes 250,000 megawatt hours of electricity, and each undergraduate requires about $409 worth of electricity, according to university and SGA leaders. The university produces half its energy needs from its own power plant, and the rest is purchased from private utility companies, said Joan Kowal, the facility administration office's energy manager.
Recent legislation requires the utilities that supply the university's electricity purchase at least 3.5 percent from renewable sources, Kowal said.
If students support the referendum, it would have no direct effect on univerisity policies, but SGA leaders hope it will send a clear message to university officials that a new energy policy is needed.
The increased fee would begin at $4 the first year and increase $2 each additional year until reaching a maximum of $12. Despite the added cost, many students appear to support the referendum.
"Twelve dollars is very little in comparison to wasting resources we can't replace," said Michael Wendt, a freshman computer engineering major.
Similar student-led campaigns to influence their universities to purchase renewable energy have spread to 539 campuses around the country, said freshman Andrew Nazdin, who works for the Sierra Student Coalition, the national student chapter of the Sierra Club.
If the university were to purchase all of student-consumed electricity from renewable sources, as the referendum suggests, it would be the largest clean energy university in the country.
Similar to this university, University of California, Santa Cruz also supplies some of its own energy needs from a campus power plant. Last year, Santa Cruz's students voted to increase their tuition by $12 each year to purchase renewable energy.
"I do not expect long-term change, but we have to get our foot in the door," said Lindsay Askew, a biology major who supports the referendum.
The referendum also takes place during Earth Week, a series of campus events that lead up to Earth Day on Sunday. Events include a speech today by Robert Kennedy Jr., an Earth Day fair on Thursday and a Sheryl Crow performance at a global warming concert on Saturday.
Contact reporter Mark Cullip at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.
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