Letter to the Editor

Land Grant Institution should use Renewable Energy

I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology in 2008 and recently came back to the University for a Master’s program. When I was an undergrad, I worked with other students to urge the University to become more sustainable. We urged: build a wind turbine, create a strong Office of Sustainability, and include sustainability topics in classes. Unfortunately, since I’ve come back I’m not sure that the University has gained much ground on these fronts. U of I - as a land grant institution - should be striving to become a leader, to demonstrate to our state and local communities what sustainability means: using renewable energy, enacting policy changes, engaging students for educational advancement, among many other potential activities.

I am disappointed that our university has continually dragged its collective feet on building a wind turbine on campus. I started working on this project in 2005 and have spent countless hours with many other students. Students in the form of the Student Sustainability Committee as well as the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation have committed millions of dollars to the project and the University has shown little follow-through.

It is time now to move past coal-powered electricity plants and toward renewable energy. We know about climate change enough to commit to this. Given this knowledge and such inaction, what will we say to our children and grandchildren? Will we say we did all we could?

Ari Sahagun
Graduate student in Communication