Energy summit touches on CSU's power
By Sean Mulhair
The Collegian
As one of the largest educational
systems in the world, the California State University has considerable
influence when it comes to energy policy, said organizer Brent Hagen at
the California Student Energy Summit held at UC Berkeley on Saturday.
“If they make changes toward efficiency it will influence other
campuses as well as companies across to use clean energy,” he said.
“Interests in wind and solar power are growing rapidly; especially
at large campuses with steep utility expenses.”
The CSU system’s plans to use alternative sources of energy within
five years, to reduce costs and emissions, was addressed at the summit.
“If it saves money, people will listen. Not paying another electric
bill is nice too,” Hagen said.
He said the energy summit is also trying to promote long-term cost effectiveness
of clean energy to large companies and outdated factories.
“The problem with modern industry is that it is only concerned with
short-term cost and profit; ‘right here, right now’ thinking.
“They are wasting large percentages of income on tired, dirty-energy
methods. If they see the long term benefits of clean energy they can drastically
increase productivity,” Hagen said.
Greenpeace campus organizer Josh Lynch said the California Student Energy
Summit focuses on how environmentalism can stimulate the economy and save
money.
More than 500 university and high school campuses plan to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions in the United States 17 percent by 2010 in the Campus Climate
Challenge. The campaign was created to train and educate the next generation
of environmental leaders, he said.
“The main problem is that $30 billion is spent per year on continuing
dirty energy sources like coal, natural gas, and oil power plants. Sadly,
only a small fraction of that is spent on clean energy like wind and solar,”
Lynch said.
“We are not trying to attack industry. We need to work with it to
innovate clean energy without hurting the economy,” Lynch said.
Hybrid and electric cars have disappointed American consumers due to their
limited power, but they may consider alternative motors if they outperform
gasoline engines, he said.
According to reports from Toyota, the Lexus RX400h hybrid SUV is actually
faster than the standard RX with a 0-60 acceleration of 7.2 seconds. For
2007, Lexus plans to release the LS600h sedan with a reported 400 horsepower.
Several other automakers such as General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Ford and
Honda have created more than $100 million in research projects to improve
hybrid technology.
Campus Climate Challenge reports said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and
several mayors in California are addressing concerns of global warming
and are passing initiatives to reduce greenhouse gasses in California
and promote clean industry.
Energy summit keynote speaker Randy Hayes, the founder of Rainforest Action
Network and sustainability director for the city of Oakland, said industrial
society has altered the chemistry of the biosphere.
“At some level, who doesn't value a livable planet?” Hayes
said. "We may differ on how to get there, but we can sit down and
talk about it.
"We're talking about life and death on Earth. Can city governments
rise up and do the work?"
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