"An Inconvenient Truth About Youth" and "Youth's" Reply

In an article in the Washington Post, Laura Wray, a graduate student, and Constance Flanagan, a professor, at Penn State University argue that todays youth are far less concerned with the environment than their predecessors in the 70's and 80's. The authors attribute the decline in environmental activism among youth to the rise in consumer culture.

In response to the article, Eliza Simon, a National Campus Climate Challenge Organizer, wrote:

Young and Green

Wednesday, September 20, 2006; A24

In "An Inconvenient Truth About Youth" [op-ed, Sept. 11], Laura Wray and Constance Flanagan contend that the apathy of young people toward conservation will be changed only through government action. Considering the Bush administration's environmental record, we're in a world of trouble if they're correct. Good thing they're wrong.

Far from shirking their responsibility to our planet, young people are leading the way in the fight to stop global warming -- and to open their elders' eyes to the crisis.

Two examples: Students at Western Washington University taxed themselves an extra $19 in student fees to fund the purchase of renewable energy, and students at Pennsylvania State University -- where Ms. Flanagan teaches and Ms. Wray studies -- gathered more than 4,700 letters asking the administration to embrace the Kyoto Protocol. They have also secured green building standards, a campus wind turbine and a plan to have 22 percent of the school's power come from renewables by 2012.

That is only the tip of the (melting) iceberg. Youth is leading; government should follow.

ELIZA SIMON

National Campus Climate Challenge

Organizer

Sierra Student Coalition

Washington

I believe the University of Pittsburgh students will ultimately prove to be as environmentally concerned as students at Western Washington University.

Talloires Declaration: A Commitment to Environmental Sustainability

In 1990, Jean Mayer, President of Tufts University, invited university leaders throughout the world to convene in Talloires, France, in order to discuss and define the role of institutions of higher learning in the debate on environmental sustainability. Twenty-two presidents, rectors, and chancellors of distinguished universities throughout the globe, attended the confererance from October 4-7 at Tufts' European University Center in Talloires. Assisted by internationally renown envirnomental experts, the convenors discussed the responsibility that universities have, as the educators of tomorrow's environmental policy makers in order to ensure that our future would be in the hands of men and women educated on the fundamental importance of environmental sustainability.

The convenors stressed the importance of the university as a role model, asserting that:

The university is a microcosm of the larger community, and the manner in which it carries out its daily activities is an important demonstration of ways to achieve environmentally responsible living. By practicing what it preaches, the university can both engage the students in understanding the institutional metabolism of materials and activities, and have them actively participate to minimize pollution and waste.

The result of the conference was the Talloires Declaration.

The signatory's of the declaration considered it to me an important first step in mobilizing the considerable resources of universities to work in the direction of an environmentally sustainable future. They pledged mutual support and that they would take actions at their own campuses to implement the recommendations of the declaration.




The University of Pittsburgh, was one of three universities in the United States to be original signatories to this historic document!




The following are the original recommendations:

RECOMMENDATIONS

University presidents must take action to focus university attention on environment, population, and development issues. They should:

1. Use every opportunity to raise public, government, foundation, and university awareness by publicly speaking out on the importance of environmental concerns.

2. Seek large increases in the funding of interdisciplinary, environmental research. Research funds are often earmarked for traditional disciplines, resulting in the continuing compartmentalization of problems and solutions. The funding available for research on population, environment, and sustainable development is a tiny fraction of that available for basic science, defense, and aerospace.

3. Encourage outstanding scholars who engage in research and teaching on environmental topics, and help them lead other scholars in this direction.

4. Establish programs in all major disciplines to teach about environment, population, and sustainable development in the context of these disciplines.

5. Work with faculty to change tenure and promotion requirements to reward interdisciplinary work on environment, population, and sustainable development issues.

6. Set aside funding and create positions for interdepartmental and interschool faculty who will research and teach population, environment, and sustainable development topics.

7. Appoint a special adviser, an environmental programs dean, or faculty group to promote environmental programs within the university.

8. Encourage multidisciplinary thinking with the use of internships, capstone and integrating seminars, work study, and case studies.

9. Establish a university environmental policy to engage faculty, staff, administration, and students in activities such as energy and water conservation, and recycling. Encourage vendors who supply schools with products and services to act in an environmentally responsible manner when manufacturing their products and delivering their services.

10. Develop cooperative programs with universities in other countries to promote faculty and student exchanges, collaborative research, and education programs that develop international understanding.

11. Establish multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary structures, such as "centers of excellence" for research, education, and policy development within the university.

12. Establish partnerships with primary and secondary schools to enhance the capability of their faculty in teaching about population, environment, and sustainable development issues.

I emphasized recommendation #10 because it is the most relevant to the goal of the Campaign for a Greener University of Pittsburgh. Recommendation #10 calls on the universities to:

Encourage vendors who supply schools with products and services to act in an environmentally responsible manner when manufacturing their products and delivering their services.

Pitt spends approximately $30 million on electricity each year. How can the environmental impact of such a significant product be overlooked by the university? Since the university currently purchases none of its energy from renewable resources, it must be purchasing most of its energy from coal plants (and some from nuclear plants). Coal plants produce millions of tons of pollution on a daily basis while wind generators produce none.

I plan to grade the University of Pittsburgh (on a A-F scale) in the upcoming weeks on the extent to which it has lived up to the commitment it made in signing the Talloires Declaration. I will examine each of the 12 reccomendations individually and then take the average score. I know that the university has excelled in some regards but it is sorely lacking in many others.

Do you think the university has lived up to its commitement?

Areas with the Highest Wind Potential in the U.S.

As you can see, the region with the greatest wind resources in the U.S. is the midwest. In fact, the GAO states that:

The nation's wind potential--particularly in areas with frequent, strong winds needed to generate electricity from wind power--remains largely untapped. According to a DOE study, the Midwest, including the Great Plains, theoretically has more than enough potential wind energy to fulfill the entire nation's electricity needs. Specifically, just three wind-rich states--North Dakota, Texas, and Kansas--could accomplish this.

Among the eastern states, Pennsylvania appears to be the state with the greatest wind resources. In the map, it appears as if about two thirds of Pennsylvania has moderate and good resources. This means that it is not due to lack of wind resources that Pitt has yet to purchase renewable energy.

Another University Setting a Good Example!

FL's Pack Big Savings at University of Guelph

September 3, 2006 01:32 PM - Lloyd Alter, Toronto

What better place to inculcate young people with the idea of saving energy than a university, and what a good example of the effectiveness of changing over to compact flourescents. At the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, they changed all 6,600 bulbs in student residences to CFL's. Results: 810,000 kWH less consumption per year; $ 64,000 saved in power purchases; 751,000 kg of CO2 not put into the atmosphere. We like also how students voted to spend extra money on 100% wind power for their student-run cafeteria. Go Guelph! ::Sustainability at U of G

Excellent Resources for Information on Wind Energy

http://www.awea.org/

Here is a nice chart from the website, somewhat surprising:



At times it must seem to green energy producers that they can't win. It is my belief that the use of wind to produce electricity is a huge step for humanity in the direction of achieving a sustainable relationship with nature.

This article brings to mind a story a friend of mine in the energy industry told me. An electric utility wanted to build a hydro plant on a river. The locals fought vehemently against the construction of the hydro plant and were finally able to find a reason to block the construction; the snail sarter. Apparently, in the area of the river where the hydro plant was to be built, an endangered species of fish, the snail darter, had a spawning ground. The locals used the snail darter to block the construction of the hydro plant. Instead of building the hydro plant, Entergy ended up building a coal plant close to the same spot along the river!

I am not suggesting that the protection of endangered species is wrong. However, I think it would have been in the locals' interest to find a way to allow the hydro plant to be built without harming the snail darter. While the coal plant in the story may not have been a threat to the snail darter (if it were then the locals could have used the same arguments to prevent its construction) it will produce millions of tons of pollution above what the hydro plant would have produced.

Universities Have Taken Different Paths to Green Power

Different strategies to achieve the same goal:

• University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

  In September of 2002, students from Student Environmental Action Coalition and the Carolina Environmental Student Alliance formed a coalition determined to bring renewable energy to the campus. The coalition sought advice from students at Swarthmore College and the University of Colorado at Boulder, where similar projects had been successful. After developing a strategic plan the coalition surveyed students to determine what students were willing to pay for renewable energy. Relationships were created with the Student Congress, Campus Facilities Services, administrators, and renewable energy companies to ensure the feasibility of the project.

  In November, the coalition brought the issue to the Student Congress and requested that a referendum proposing a student fee increase to fund renewable energy projects be placed on the student ballot in February. After intense debate, the Congress approved the measure by 19 to 4. The coalition recruited support from other organizations building a base of support. The following months ensued with intense publicity work educating the campus student body and grassroots tactics that included door-to-door canvassing asking for support of the initative.

  On February 11th 2003, UNC Chapel Hill became the first southeast institution to pass a student referendum in support of allocating student fees for renewable energy. The $4/ semester referendum passed, with 74.5% approval. The referendum is waiting approval from the North Carolina State legislature.

• Duke University

  In November 2002 students from Duke's undergraduate environmental organization, Environmental Alliance, proposed energy conservation measures for the school that were adopted by the Facilities Management Department (FMD). FMD implemented the conservation measures over winter break and estimated the savings at $800,000 over 10 years.

  In February 2003, a group of Environmental Alliance (EA) members proposed that the University should use some of those savings to purchase green energy. In particular, they proposed that the University put up $25,000 to 'challenge match' student, faculty and staff purchases of wind power.

  In April 2003, EA launched the Duke Green Power Challenge, an ambitious campaign to sign-up students, faculty and staff for 1,250 kwh blocks of wind power at $25 a piece. The effort garnered positive support in the student newspaper and drew 500 participants in just 4 weeks. The campaign was resumed in the fall of 2004 and continues today. Duke Universitys annual load is supplemented by over 2% renewable energy.

• Maryville College

  In the Fall 2003 Maryville College's administration agreed to a monthly purchase of 45 blocks of green power for three buildings on the campus from TVA's Green Power Switch �. Maryville College became the second higher-education institution in the Tennessee Valley to enroll in the regional program offered by TVA and local utility distributors throughout TVA's service area.

  Dr. Mark O'Gorman, associate professor of political science and environmental studies and chairperson of the College's Environment and Forestry Advisory Committee (EFAC) recognizes the College's participation in the program as progress of the College's commitment to living out its institutional environmental ethic. "Maryville College students are very aware that citizens need to become better stewards of the planet," O'Gorman said. "From classes on ethics and the environment taken from the freshman through senior years, environmental-related courses and majors in a number of disciplines, and a variety of eco-related service and ministry projects, our students and campus community commit themselves to helping the environment." (Fall 2003 GPS newsletter Green Power Switch News Vol.3 Number 4)

• University of Tennessee - Knoxville campus

  In the Spring of 2000, the University of Tennessee was an initial customer of the Green Power Switch � program. University of Tennessee (UT) currently purchases 345 150kWh blocks of green power a month, accounting for .03% of UT's annual electricity purchase from Knoxville Utility Board. The initial commitment was decided on by the administration in 2000.

  Students are currently in the midst of a grassroots campaign to increase awareness of energy issues and green power purchasing.

• Appalachian State University

  Appalachian State University (ASU) students voted in the Spring of approving a $5/semester increase in student fees by an overwhelming 81%. This student lead initiative is waiting approval from the North Carolina State legislature.

Pitt's FY07 Budget

I created these two charts based on University Times Articles discussing Pitt's Budget. I don't think the University's budget is publicly accessible but I would love to see the entire document. The university has budgeted to spend about 51 million on utilitiest this year.

In 2002, 59% of Pitt's utility budget went to pay the electricity bill. If 59% of the current utility bill will go toward electricity, then FY07's electricy bill will be 30.1 million and purchasing 10% renewable energy would cost an additional $375,000 (with a 50% discount on what residential customers would pay).

I find it difficult to understand how the electricity bill more than quadrupled (8.26 million in 2002 t0 30.1 million in 2007) in the past 5 years. The Peterson Events Center could have had a big effect. Also, electricity rates were capped up until at least 2004. Rates may have been uncapped in January of 2005, which could explain some of the increase. Still, quadrupling your electric bill in 4 years is quite a lot.

Top 5 Things You Can do to Support the Campaign

1. First and foremost, please create a link to this blog in your own blog. In return, I will gladly place a reciprocal link in this blog. Links to this blog will create traffic and will generate support. People cannot support this campaign if they don't know it exists!

2. If you are a member of a "green" organization (Sierra Club, Green Party, Outdoors Club, etc.) especially those based in Pennsylvania, please mention this campaign in your newsletter or bring it up in your next meeting. Word of mouth communication will be a powerful force in spreading information about the campaign. In addition, if your organization has a listserve, please forward a link to this campaign to that list.

3. If you receive an email about the Campaign for a Green University of Pittsburgh, please forward it to your friends, especially those you believe would support the campaign.

4. Fourth, tell your circle of friends about this website, especially if you are a student at Pitt. As a recent Pitt graduate I know how fast news can spread within the student body. I believe support from current students will be crucial in the success of this campaign!

5. Fifth, write emails or letters about this website to the Pitt News and the University Times. Getting information about the campaign published in a university news source is a sure way to gain publicity for the campaign.

As you can see, the main goal is to spread the word about the campaign! Even if I spent all of my time trying to spread the word about the campaign on my own, I wouldn't be able to achieve what a thousand people, spending 5 minutes a day could achieve. I know that I cannot do this on my own. I need your active, not your passive support!

Pittsburgh: the greenest city - News

Pittsburgh: the greenest city - News

Abstract:

The Green Building Alliance has determined that Pittsburgh is the greenest city in America, based on the number of "green" buildings and square footage rated by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system.

Maryland Governer Pledges to Purchase 10% of State Government's Energy from Renewable Sources

According to this Washington Post article, Robert Ehrlich, governer of Maryland, has pledged to purchase 10% renewable energy. Will he keep his promise?

U.S. Energy Consumption by Source Graphic

Carnegie Mellon was the trailblazer 5 years ago

About 5 years ago, on May 21, 2001, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) made national headlines when it made the largest retail purchase of wind energy in the U.S. up until that time. CMU made the largest retail purchase of wind energy up until then despite the fact that it only planned to purchase 5% of its electricity from wind sources.

In 2005, approximately 11% of its electricty CMU consumed was green. In 2006, CMU...

...increased its purchase of renewable energy sources (wind power, small hydro power and landfill gas resources) for electricity from 11 percent to 15 percent this year. The university plans to acquire 17 .5 percent of its total power form renewable sources in 2007, and 20 percent in 2008.

At the time of this article, dated April 18, 2002, the University of Pittsburgh was one ofthe few major universities in Pennsylvania that had yet to committ to purchase any renewable energy.

Major universities commited to purchasing renewable energy in PA at that time included:

Allegheny College
Bucknell University
Carnegie Mellon University
Dickinson College
Franklin & Marshall College
Gannon University
Gettysburg College
Juniata College
Penn State University
Swarthmore College

The State of Pennsylvania Doubles its Purchase of Renewable Energy

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania recently reached an agreement with Community Energy Inc. to double its purchase of renewable energy from 10% of its total consumption, to 20%. The commonwealth will increase its annual purchase of renewable energy from 100,000 megawatt hours to 200,000. According to the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) press release:

"The contract calls for electricity that is generated 40 percent from wind power and 60 percent from hydroelectric sources. Both produce electricity with zero emissions of air pollution. The 200,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy represent avoided emissions of 951 tons of sulfur dioxide, 271 tons of nitrogen oxide and 123,410 tons of carbon dioxide. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide contribute to acid rain, fine particulate pollution and regional haze, and nitrogen oxide is also a key component of smog. Carbon dioxide is one of the most potent greenhouse gases."

According to a post gazette article on the issue, though the purchase of renewable energy will be doubled, the commonwealth's electricity bill is expected to increase less than 1%, from 70 million to 70.5 million. The state will be purchasing the additional energy at a premium rate of .34 cents per kilowatt hour. The deal will make PA the largest state purchaser of renewable energy in the nation. The deal should also move it from 12th on the EPA's list of Top 25 Green Power Partners, to 5th.

Two important lessons can be learned from the commonwealth's new deal. First, increasing its purchase of renewable energy by 10% does not break its budget, as PA's elecricity bill will increase by only 1%. Second, as one of the largest consumers of electricity in Pennsylvania, the state government used its status to bargain the price of the electricity down to only a .34 cent per kilowatt hour premium over traditional electricity. This stands in stark contrast to the 2.5 cents premium per kilowatt hour currently charged to PA residential customers. Using its status as a bulk power consumer allowed the state government to purchase renewable energy at an 86% discount over what residential customers pay. As one of the largest consumers of energy in western PA, the University of Pittsburgh would also be in an excellent position to negotiate a favorable deal. A 50% discount over what residential customers pay would reduce the additional amount needed to purchase 100% renewable energy from $2.25 million to $1.125 million. Purchasing 10% renewable electricty would cost the university only an additional $112,500 annually.

Updated Electric Bill Information for Pitt

This University Times article, dated May 2, 2002, gives a more recent account of Pitt's electricity bill. According to this article, about 59% of Pitt's annual $14 million utility bill goes toward electricty. That means an $8.26 million annual electricty bill, almost three times my earlier estimate of $3 million. Assuming Pitt's electricity bill has increased to $9 million in the 4 years since this article was published, switching to 100% renewable energy would cost Pitt an additional $2.25 million. Purchasing 10% renewable electricity, which is the goal of this Blog, would cost Pitt an additional $225 thousand.


From the Post Gazette:

The largest of the nonprofit educators [in Pittsburgh] is the University of Pittsburgh, which employs 12,000 and has an operating budget of $1.5 billion. Every year the university attracts 34,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 counties, including China, Taiwan, India, South Korea and Japan. Considering what Pitt pays its faculty and staff, what it spends on construction, office supplies and food, the university's annual contribution to the local economy is estimated at $1.3 billion.

If Pitt's operating budget is $1.5 billion, an increase in its electricty bill of $2.25 million would be a .15% increase in Pitt's budget.

Updated Cost of Renewable Energy in Western PA

According to a Pittsburgh Post Gazette article written on October 12, 2005, electricity purchased from Community Energy, the only remaining provider of renewable energy in Western PA after Green Mountain went out of business last October, costs 2.5 cents more per kilowatt hour over what Duquesne Light charges. According to Duquesne Light's most recent tarriff on its website, it currently charges 9.62 cents per kilowatt hour. This would mean that Community Energy is charging 12.12 cents per kilowatt hour, or 26% more than Duquesne Light.

Nuclear Plants

A beautiful picture. I like the contrast of the green leaves and the concrete of the Nuclear Plant's cooling tower.



A map of all the nuclear facilities in the U.S.

Nuclear energy acually creates the cheapest energy of all electricity producers, with the exception of Hydro. One pound of uranium produces about the same amount of energy as that produced from 3,000,000 pounds of Coal.

The following is taken from wikipedia:

In 2006 in the United States, there were 104 (69 pressurized water reactors and 35 boiling water reactors) commercial nuclear generating units licensed to operate, producing a total of 101,289 megawatts (electric), which is approximately 20 percent of the nation's total electric energy consumption. The United States is the world's largest supplier of commercial nuclear power. Future development of nuclear power in the U.S. (see the Nuclear Power 2010 Program) was enabled by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 [13]. As of 2005, no nuclear plant had been ordered without subsequent cancellation for over twenty years, thus the desire for programs to promote new construction. However, on September 22, 2005 it was announced that two sites in the U.S. had been selected to receive new power reactors (exclusive of the new power reactor scheduled for INL). Since then, other utilities have taken steps towards ordering new nuclear reactors.

A large nuclear reactor produces 3 cubic metres (25-30 tonnes) of spent fuel each year.[29] As of 2003, the United States had accumulated about 49,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors.

Coal Plants

Not as aestheticaly pleasing but are cheaper than wind mills in terms of $ per KW capacity. There are currently about 105,000 coal miners working in over 2,000 mines in the U.S. Opponents of coal fueled energy should keep those miners, as well as the thousands of workers employed by the plants themselves, in mind, when considering the potential impact of environmental restrictions on coal plants.

Wind Farms

Wind Farms. Some critize windfarms for ruining scenery, taking up too much space, etc. I actually think they are quite graceful structures.