Editor’s Note: Views expressed in guest columns and letters to the editor reflect the views of the author, not the views of The State News.
In response to, “Students debate Energy Transition Plan at ASMSU forum,” (SN 3/27) I wanted to clarify some misleading points. First of all, this was not a debate. It was a presentation with moderated questions that lacked adequate student participation. The article also mistakenly says students have not provided solutions when in fact, students have provided several ideas and examples, such as using wind energy, solar, efficiency and geothermal — solutions that have been implemented successfully on other campuses in the Midwest.
Instead of investigating these 21st century clean energy solutions, the Energy Transition Plan, or ETP, relied on a report from a company who builds outdated coal plants. For MSU to be a real clean energy leader, the Board of Trustees needs to understand this plan is inadequate in addressing the energy challenges we face.
Instead, we are encouraging the university to commit to retiring the polluting coal plant on campus as soon as possible, stop spending more money on the plant and instead invest in clean energy, and revise all university energy plans to include the findings from the Student Clean Energy Working Group, a one-year, student-led group endorsed by President Lou Anna K. Simon to create a much more aggressive and practical plan for getting MSU to 100 percent renewable energy and make us a real clean energy leader.
Talya Tavor, English senior, president of MSU Beyond Coal
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