I am going to grant myself a privilege as a self-labeled environmentalist and generalize about Americans: We are cynical individuals who see even the steps that have been taken by the Obama administration, such as investments in renewable energy and tax credits for efficient appliances, as nothing more than a drop in the bucket in light of the multitude of challenges we face. Our air is dirtier, our water more polluted, our resources increasingly scarce and our planet hotter. We have begun the initiatives to address some major issues, such as reducing waste through recycling programs and slowing climate change through clean energy investments. But those of us who do not dismiss science when it is inconvenient find ourselves frequently depressed when we think of the colossal problems at hand. In a reflection on Earth Day - and Earth Week - I think we can all take a moment to gaze at a slew of initiatives pursued by Student Council that give us a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the fight for a sustainable, clean planet is not abandoned just yet.
Students have vigorously pursued a number of changes on Grounds in recent years. As a first-year student experimenting with a few environmental policy courses, I watched with admiration as the Sustainability Committee worked endlessly to establish a Student Garden. Aiming to promote organic gardening and local foods, the Student Garden was orchestrated successfully by these student leaders, and thus the project was approved by President John T. Casteen, III. This collective "working together" spirit between students, faculty and the administration for this cause lends those losing faith in the environmental movement a unified example that people from all walks of life are ready and willing to meet the challenges. These examples are vital in reinvigorating that 'can-do' attitude that has fueled our civilization through so many pressing issues of each generation. Without them, any goal to keep the faith in progress and to keep going would be strongly diminished.
With one project in the bag, students continued to express their interest in environmental issues. To my surprise, earlier this spring Council passed GIFT, short for "Green Initiative Funding Tomorrow." This program approves a $5 additional but optional fee each year to help pay for projects around Grounds to run the University in a more sustainable, environmentally-conscious way. Five dollars certainly is not a huge request; we should all do our part. But rarely do students endorse an additional expenditure when already paying so much for tuition, fees, books and so forth at the beginning of the academic year. This is an admirable step by the project leaders, as well as the supportive student body, to make our University more self-sufficient. With the aging but vigorous recycling programs, the establishment of the Student Garden and now the GIFT program, there is little doubt that students and staff at the University take the environmental threats of the 21st century seriously. And that is encouraging not just for environmentalists, but for human civilization in general.
Given the timing of the writing of this article, I must speak to the promotion and engagement during Earth Week at the University. A variety of events highlighting many environmental issues - from the energy crisis to water shortages - have been addressed. Any student at this University must have spent time in something likened to solitary confinement to have missed all of this information. A list of events included things such as general education through film screenings to dumpster dives to outright carbon elimination experiments. Students are not doing these activities for show. If you watched or attended any of these events, you will have observed they are serious undertakings involving very hard work that directly exemplify environmental problems hatched from our current way of life. The hands on events such as this are those that give us real hope.
Just as I write this, a gathering of students met no more than 24 hours ago to work on the establishment of a Global Sustainability minor. Any spectator need look only to the Spanish minor to note that mere popularity is not sufficient for such an academic program to survive. But this endeavor, much like the Student Garden, points to a clear, unified front to address environmental problems that I believe will be the defining issues of our generation. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about student apathy on many of the important issues of our day, but here is one area where the students at this University do not disappoint. As a student and as an environmentalist, there is renewed hope and a revived front to meet these challenges head on.
Rex Young's column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at r.young@cavalierdaily.com.
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