Since the beginning of the fall semester I have been working as an intern for the Sierra Student Coalition's Campuses Beyond Coal Campaign. In this campaign we raise awareness about the harmful affects associated with mining and burning coal for energy and here at UNT we get nearly 50% of our electrical energy from burning coal. Our goal is to push UNT off of dirty coal and to 100% renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. While it isn't easy to have a college administration agree with our campaign right away, we have constantly been gathering petitions, writing letters to the editors of many local newspapers, and meeting with the administration (including President Rawlins) in order to raise awareness and try to find the best way for UNT to truly "mean green".
While this semester is just beginning, we had so much success last semester in recruitment, visibility, and coalitions. Below is a video from our final event from last semester. This event was held on November 11, 2010, and was part of a larger, national movement for clean energy.
This is such a cool organization! It makes me so happy to see that people actually do care enough to form groups like this and do something proactive about these overwhelming problems.
I am so glad that UNT has actually come to the realization that we MUST get past relying on coal to power our school. There is a goal of being totally coal-free by 2040, but in my opinion that goal is not much of a goal. We have to get together as students and push for making it happen now, and groups like Beyond Coal is how to do it. It takes a radical to start a revolution.
This is such a cool organization! It makes me so happy to see that people actually do care enough to form groups like this and do something proactive about these overwhelming problems.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that UNT has actually come to the realization that we MUST get past relying on coal to power our school. There is a goal of being totally coal-free by 2040, but in my opinion that goal is not much of a goal. We have to get together as students and push for making it happen now, and groups like Beyond Coal is how to do it. It takes a radical to start a revolution.
ReplyDelete