Influence • On
July 20 students brought handmade signs
into the Board of Trustees meeting, expressing
the importance of renewable energy to
CSU campuses and the overall global welfare.
Renew CSU
New
CSU environmental group takes energetic
action
By
Elena Encarnacion
Contributing Writer
Online Forty-Niner
Students and advocates for clean energy and conservation representing the Renew
CSU campaign gathered at the Board of Trustees meeting July 19 and 20 in the
California State University Chancellor’s Office in Long Beach.
The campaign, which promotes the implementation of sound environmental policies
in the CSU system, came out to support an environmental policy that would make
the CSU a nationwide leader in renewable energy usage and green building policies.
Renew CSU, which has been at the forefront of the struggle to make the CSU
more environmentally responsible, recruited students and environmental experts
to observe the presentation of a revised policy drafted by an appointed committee,
and to testify in front of the Board of Trustees to convey the importance of
renewable energy, protecting the environment and the benefits this could bring
to the CSU system.
During the first day of the meeting, the appointed Sustainability Advisory
Committee presented their draft, influenced by the suggested goals of Renew
CSU, to the Board of Trustees.
Tylor Middlestadt, student body president of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the
environmental affairs officer of the California State Student Association,
who is also a member of the committee, was pleased with the result. Most of
Renew CSU’s suggestions were included and there were few compromises.
The revision stipulates four major goals: reduce energy consumption by 15 percent
by the end of 2009-10, as compared with consumption from 2003-04; promote energy
independence from the electricity grid by increasing the use of self-generated
energy, such as solar or wind, from 26 to 50 megawatts by 2014; supply 20 percent
of electricity needs from renewable sources by 2010; and strive to achieve
a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating of 2.1 in all
new buildings renovated from the beginning of 2006-07, which represents a standard
for high-performance, sustainable buildings that are energy efficient and promote
water conservation.
However, Josh Hoffman, an environmental science and policy major at CSU Monterey,
attended the meeting in support of Renew CSU and feels the goals set for self-generated
energy and green building standards are not enough.
“I think we are capable of doing a lot more,” Hoffman said.
According to Renew CSU, saving money by conserving resources and energy on
campuses that could instead go to academics is one of the major benefits of
their comprehensive energy conservation plan.
The Board of Trustees will vote to approve the revised policy in September.
For more information on sustainability and clean energy, go to www.renewcsu.org. |
