On Wednesday, September 16th the Sierra Club announced a new campaign to “kick coal off campuses” nationally.

Around 60 campuses who signed on to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment still use coal – an ancient, dirty technology that is far too common place in the 21st Century.

One of those campuses is right here in North Carolina in the form of the flagship University of the University of North Carolina system – UNC Chapel Hill.

As a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill this is a deeply personal issue to me. I lived off of Merritt Mill road during my Junior year at UNC and I walked to campus daily. Each time I walked to campus I walked past a power plant that ran off of coal… and I had no idea. At the time I would have bet just about anything it wasn’t “dirty” energy because I knew that UNC was very proud of our environmental reputation.

And rightly so.

In 1989 student leaders had convened a conference that helped give birth to the an expanded environmental movement across campuses nationwide. That commitment and the dedication of subsequent iterations of student leadership kept the environmental cause moving forward.

The University would eventually sign on to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment – as mentioned above – that pledged the school to a 60% reduction of carbon usage by 2050. This move would be partially funded by a $4 per semester “green fee” paid by each student.

The green fee came about as a result of student led efforts and passed by a wide margin during campus elections.

This move made UNC Chapel Hill the 1st school in the Southeast with a green fee – again showing that they were attempting to offer leadership on the environment.

The green fee would help with a “solar thermal” projection when Morrison Dorm (a dorm that holds 1,000 students and a place where I spent a good bit of time in my years at UNC before it was closed for renovation) was renovated. Solar panels now adorn the top of Morrison and heat the majority of the hot water in the dorm. Their is an effort to spread this throughout the campus.

The University also founded a Sustainability Office to help guide their efforts and they have worked on campus plans that would provide better management for future growth and encourage both pedestrians and biking.
Considering all of this one has to wonder why the campus is still powered, in large part, by coal?

I will admit that they have done their part to make the coal plant as clean as it can possibly be all things considered. But it is time for them to offer leadership and eliminate it completely. They have taken steps in the right direction but they need to make strides in the right direction if they wish to offer leadership.

And if I know UNC, and if the kudos I hear about Chancellor Holden Thorp, are correct then I believe they will do the right thing.

That would make me one proud Tar Heel.

LINKS:

http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=131181.0&dlv_id=114321

http://setenergy.org/2009/01/05/solar-campuses-a-success-story-at-unc-chapel-hill/