The MSU Energy Transition Steering Committee has been in progress for more than a year and they don’t have a plan that will set our goal of 100 percent renewable energy in a reasonable amount of time.
President Lou Anna K. Simon knows that our reliance on coal energy is a problem, but she doesn’t seem to understand that this is an issue of the health of the student body.
She said we need to be fiscally responsible. It’s understandable that a university budget is a huge responsibility, but the committee can present different fiscal options in obtaining money elsewhere, such as grants, programs or even fundraising.
The plan that was made public highlighted the committee’s flaws. The fact that there is a lack of motivation and effort from the Steering Committee and administration shows that we can’t hope that all of our problems will be solved by them. They admitted in the plan that MSU could’ve been off coal in the fiscal year of 2013, but chose to not enforce this “no coal” policy in their plan.
They start with a reassuring understanding of the harmful effects of coal and all the good renewable energy can bring to MSU, but fail to be aggressive about the transition. President Simon says the plan should make us a role model, but I get the feeling that this will lead us to larger climate issues.
Taos Boudjemai, MSU Greenpeace member and general management sophomore
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