Student activist groups fighting for a cleaner earth should be excited about this plan, but many students expressed unnecessary disapproval with the board.

No group reasonably can expect MSU to transition to 100 percent renewable energy overnight, and student groups should be happy that the university is making progress, rather than getting upset at the university for not making it quickly enough.

If the board didn’t approve this plan, people would be upset about the lack of foresight displayed by MSU. With the board approving the plan, people still are angry about the lack of a definite date for the university to transition away from coal.

Student groups want an end date for the plan, but that is unreasonable and unfeasible costwise because the world currently doesn’t have the technology to cheaply do what these groups want accomplished.

Regardless of what some student groups seem to think, this plan is a big step forward for the university.

As much as many people would like it to be, MSU will not become a 100 percent renewable energy campus in one fell swoop. If it were a cost-effective option for the whole student body, it’s definitely something board members would have looked at. But it is not a financially feasible choice to make, and board members unanimously decided to take the slower road.

Their decision likely will prove to be the right one.

As clean-energy technology continues to develop, it would be presumptive of MSU to dive into a plan that would transform how the university is powered.

By taking a slower path, the board is allowing the time to explore many different options without fully committing to one. It’s safe to assume more efficient, cheaper methods of energy transition will develop during the years to come, and board members are making the right choice in waiting for those technologies to develop. The board members allotting themselves the time to figure things out and make the best decision likely will result in the most efficient way to transition to renewable energy.

It’s the small steps that are going to make the university more environmentally friendly for the future, and approving this plan is one way to move toward renewable forms of energy.

Disappointed groups are forgetting that there are steps to making a campus-wide change. Their solution of turning to 100 percent renewable energy as soon as possible is not obtainable.

The board members approving this plan shows they are realistic about energy transition and searching for the most efficient way to obtain their goal of 100 percent renewable energy.