Students for Environmental Action hosted Energy Unplugged last weekend, a conference featuring local experts who discussed local and global environmental issues. More than 30 students braved the chilly February morning to attend the event.
The goal of Students for Environmental Action is "to educate the student body about what we're trying to do: moving forward and being more efficient in our energy use," SEA President Dana Richards said. "We work with administrators, pushing them, trying to make changes."
Tim Owens, Virginia campus organizer of Chesapeake Climate Action Network, was the first speaker. He opened with a quote from James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies:
"We have at most 10 years -- not 10 years to decide upon action, but 10 years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions. Such an outcome is still feasible in the case of global warming, but just barely."
Owens spoke about Campus Climate Challenge, an initiative to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions on 1,000 campuses nationwide. Owens highlighted the efforts of a few local colleges and universities.
The College of William & Mary has committed to 100 percent clean energy by December 2020. At James Madison University, 50 students recently marched through campus chanting, "We want green energy now." Dormitories at the University of Mary Washington are competing to use the least energy during February and will submit a proposal for clean energy to the administration at the end of the month.
"Will our children look back and say we were a generation of cowards, or see that we really did something?" Owens said. "The role of students is to push the faculty to go beyond what they think is possible ... I think together you can all make huge changes."
According to a flyer distributed at the beginning of the conference, the Sustainable Endowments Institute released a College Sustainability Report Card this year. The report card graded 100 top colleges on factors including energy conservation, endowment transparency and recycling. Only four schools received an A, while 22 earned a B and 54 earned a C.The University scored a D+. According to Kathy Cacciola, sustainability coordinator of the Office of the University Architect, this grade is misleading.
Cacciola said the University has pledged to meet the requirements of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System in all new buildings. University Transit Service buses run on 20 percent biodiesel blend fuel, which releases fewer emissions than petroleum. The University recycles more than 40 percent of its waste, well above the 25 percent required by the Commonwealth.
Additionally, plans for several energy-efficient buildings have been approved. The Moore School of Nursing Education will have a green roof, a foliage-covered rooftop that naturally heats and cools a building and reduces storm water run-off, and few parking spaces to encourage alternate forms of transportation. Plans for the new Observatory Hill dormitories include large windows to take advantage of daylight and reduce electricity waste. One of the most ambitious projects, the South Lawn, is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification and will also feature green roofs.
"This is something that will really work and will be aesthetically wonderful," Cacciola said.
Architecture Prof. Timothy Beatley presented a strong case for solar power at the University, citing examples of measures taken by several countries.
Gnarled, wishbone-shaped, solar-powered lampposts topped with purple lights line the streets in Australia. They are designed to look like a native Mallee tree and produce six times as much energy as they expend.
Sweden has announced its plan to be fossil-fuel free by 2020.
Some areas in the United States have started to incorporate solar power, a trend already popular in Europe.
Roy Lee Walker Elementary School in Texas uses full spectrum lighting into its design. Windows span the ceiling and bathe students in natural light. This design not only reduces electricity consumption, but according to Beatley, also makes students healthier and happier.
"This is good for us, good for the environment and it saves us money," Beatley said.
Implementing new policies is not without cost, however. Though solar power saves money in the long run, initial costs are considerable. Beatley said concerns should not be solely financial.
"I would profoundly disagree that we should only adopt policies that are economically profitable," Beatley said. "It's an ethical issue."
Paxton Marshall, University undergraduate dean of electrical engineering, said he agreed.
Financial cost does not "account for the cost we're passing on to future generations," Marshall said.
The debate continued during the break for lunch. Midway through a meal of vegetarian chili, Al Fioreti of University Recycling reminded attendees how to properly dispose of their plastic plates. Students representing different groups around Grounds chatted in small groups, debating the merits of environmental policies from economic, architectural, scientific and engineering perspectives.
Following lunch, Utilities Manager Cheryl Gomez presented graphs of the University's energy use over the past several years. Water consumption has decreased steadily and energy use has remained consistent since the mid-1990s. Despite these improvements, more work needs to be done.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced last week it is "90 percent certain" that humans are to blame for increasing temperatures worldwide. Scientists predict frequent heat waves and higher numbers of hurricanes and typhoons in the coming years.
Gerald Meehr, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmosphere Research, said cutting greenhouse gas emissions would have a huge impact on this problem.
"The message is, it does matter what we do," Meehr said.
Last fall, 80 percent of University students who voted said they supported an energy referendum, stating their willingness to allocate five dollars of their tuition for renewable energy at the University. Given the United Nations' recent declaration, Students for Environmental Action now takes on its mission with a renewed sense of urgency.
"I think the conference went really well because we've become more aware of the issues," SEA member David Reynolds said. "We just need to narrow, focus and figure out how to get there."
Marshall concluded the conference with a reference to the University's founder, Thomas Jefferson.
"Thomas Jefferson emphasized [the University's] primary role as training citizens for a democracy," Marshall said. "I have no doubt that if Thomas Jefferson were here he'd see sustainability as the greatest challenge of our age."
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