Tufts' Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO) organized and overwhelmingly passed a student referendum last semester in support of wind power. An incredible 88 percent of voters cast their ballots in favor of raising student fees by no more than $20 per year to purchase a portion of Tufts' energy from clean, renewable and environmentally friendly wind power sources.
Voter turnout was 40 percent, surpassing the previous week's TCU Presidential elections. Tufts students sent a clear message that it is time to transition beyond dirty energy technologies - such as coal and oil - that contribute to climate change.
It is therefore disappointing that nearly six months after the referendum, the Tufts administration has been silent and has yet to devise a concrete plan to follow through on the results.
Energy Action, a North American youth coalition, has dubbed Oct. 19 "Energy Independence Day," a national Day of Action around clean energy issues. Yesterday they launched an ambitious campaign, the "Campus Climate Challenge," to push campuses towards an environmentally and economically sustainable future. ECO stands in solidarity with student groups at hundreds of colleges all over the U.S. and Canada in calling upon our administrations to take action on climate change issues.
Many Tufts students still remember seeing hundreds of pinwheels spinning in the breeze on the President's Lawn, and watching ECO members dressed as wind turbines and coal smokestacks stage mock boxing matches. They have been waiting since April to know what is going to come of the referendum. They deserve an answer.
To Tufts' credit, University staff met with ECO members this summer and proposed that rather than purchase wind power right away, Tufts would instead invest in several campus energy efficiency projects, without raising student fees. The resulting savings would then be invested in further energy efficiency projects and the purchase of renewable energy credits.
The proposal is tantalizing because it could - at no additional cost to students - result in even higher emissions reductions than ECO's original plan. There is, however, no documentation from the University that any plan has been developed, or even a description of the process that would be used to develop a plan. The specifics are completely up in the air; issues of accountability have yet to be resolved.
We cannot ignore this any longer. Climate change due to human carbon dioxide emissions from burning oil and coal is having devastating effects. If unchecked, it poses a severe threat to the future of our planet. It is time to move beyond talk and come up with a concrete plan of action. ECO wants to work with Tufts' administration and staff towards this end.
Tufts has a history of being an environmental and social leader and has previously expressed its commitment to addressing climate change. In 2003, Tufts President Lawrence Bacow pledged the University would adopt a set of stringent greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets drafted by state and provincial leaders from New England and Eastern Canada. ECO's referendum has now given the administration a golden opportunity to implement projects that will help achieve these goals.
In an op-ed in the Boston Globe last week entitled "How universities can teach public service," President Bacow wrote that "civic engagement represents an essential part of our social fabric" and that youth are "powerful, positive forces of change." ECO's successful wind power referendum and the voters who participated uphold the spirit of these words. For actual change to take place, Tufts' administration now must respond to the vote in line with students' wishes.
United under the banner of the Campus Climate Challenge, hundreds of campus groups have recognized that climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our generation and have decided to take action. ECO has accepted the challenge. We hope that our administration and political leaders will do the same.
