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He said the energy summit is also trying to promote long-term cost effectiveness of clean energy to large companies and outdated factories.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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