Something is afoot in our world today. The polar ice caps are melting, extreme weather events such as droughts and storms are increasing in frequency and intensity, and the 1990s were the hottest decade of the past millennium. Scientists increasingly agree that these phenomena, and many others, are due to processes of human-induced global warming.
Unfortunately, articles such as Gena Gorlin's "The Grand Enviro-Swindle" (The Primary Source, Oct. 7) attempt to deny the realities of this extremely important problem, whether we call it "global warming" or "climate change." In criticizing the attempts of Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO) to get Tufts to purchase clean energy, Gorlin is at best misleading and at worst untruthful.
ECO's clean energy campaign, which would charge students an annual $20 clean energy fee, is hardly an attempt "to take students' money underhandedly," as Gorlin would have you believe. To even get a referendum vote, ECO first has to gather 250 signatures showing preliminary support for the initiative. Twenty-five percent of the student body must then vote for the referendum to be valid - and even then the outcome is hardly certain. When one considers that barely 25 percent of students vote even in student government elections, Gorlin's criticism fails to hold water.
Gorlin's second contention - that the science behind global warming/climate change is bunk - is also false. As mentioned previously, scientists overwhelmingly agree based on numerous observations that human emissions of greenhouse gases, mostly from power plants and automobiles, are trapping heat in our atmosphere and causing climate change. This is confirmed by the United Nations-established Intergover-nmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which represents over 2,000 respected scientists from all over the world taking part in the largest collection of peer-reviewed science in history.
Compare this to the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, which Gorlin cites in her article. This group consists of only six people, none of whom are climatologists, geologists or environmental scientists. The few people claiming that global warming does not exist often lack scientific credentials and have direct ties to the fossil fuel and oil industries. Consider-ing that the United States spends billions of dollars every year subsidizing coal and oil corporations, it is no surprise that we are the only major developed country in the world that refuses to acknowledge the science behind climate change. We have yet to take action, and wind and solar energy are not yet cost-competitive.
Even the Pentagon recently acknowledged that climate change is a problem, warning in a recent report that it seriously threatens our national security. Once again our government failed to address the problem, but students, however, are rising to the challenge.
Over 50 universities across the country, including Harvard, Duke, Stanford, and the Pennsylvania state system, are currently purchasing some form of clean energy, be it wind, solar, or biomass. Many of these schools are funding these energy purchases through small student fee increases, much like the one ECO is proposing for Tufts. These campus campaigns will help mitigate the effects of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They will also offset the environmental hazards associated with coal mining and oil drilling and reduce toxic power plant pollution that causes asthma and cancer and kills tens of thousands of people per year.
Student activism around energy issues is also occurring on a political level. Groups such as EnviroCitizen are leading voter education and get-out-the-vote efforts around environmental issues, and a recently-formed coalition called Energy Action has drafted an ambitious Declaration of Independence from Dirty Energy, which can be read and signed at the EnergyAction homepage (http://www. energyaction.net). The group hopes to get 30,000 students nationwide to sign on to this declaration to make a strong political statement about clean energy before the upcoming presidential elections.
Energy Action has also set next Tuesday, Oct. 19, as "Energy Independence Day," when students at 300 campuses across the country will take action in support of clean energy and a sustainable future. Tufts will be taking part, and the curious are advised to check out the patio in front of the library around noon that day.
Tufts has a history of being environmentally conscious. The University has committed to meet the standards of the Kyoto Protocol, which calls for a seven percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels. Buying clean energy will go a long way towards helping us meet this goal. Wind and solar power may currently cost more than conventional sources of energy, but they have the potential to be cheaper in the long run.
As students, we all have the ability to do something about the energy we use. By turning off the lights, turning off the computer at night, and turning the heat down this winter, we use less of the University's energy - meaning that our tuition need not increase to cover energy costs. But since we must use some energy, we might as well choose a source that does not give kids asthma, pollute waterways with mercury, or cause climate change. The benefits of wind and solar energy are certainly worth a 0.05 percent tuition increase. So next time you want to order another late night pizza, consider instead putting your $20 towards a more long term investment in a cleaner and healthier future for our planet.
Aditya Nochur is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major and James Fraser is a junior majoring in Anthropology.
