This is not the average environmental, \Save the Earth"" plea. Almost every student at UW-Madison can make a real difference'cheaply and quickly.
Environmentalists have been praising renewable energy sources for years, but there was little the average citizen could do about it until recently.
With December's electricity bill, Madison Gas and Electric sent a brochure detailing its wind-power option. For an additional $5 a month, MG&E customers can buy a block of wind power (150 kilowatt-hours). In other words, for an increase in your energy bill of about 10 percent, 25 percent of your electricity can be provided by wind power, a renewable resource.
Alliant Energy also offers its ""Second Nature"" program. Customers can choose to pay as little as $3 extra per month to take part in the program, which provides renewable energy resources.
There are considerable benefits to using renewable wind power to supply electricity. Perhaps most compelling are the environmental benefits. As we have known for years, limited resources such as coal, natural gas and oil will eventually run out and something must replace them.
Wind power is much cheaper than solar power as an alternate resource, especially in Wisconsin. Even though the wind is not as strong in this state as it is in other Midwestern plain states, it is much more reasonable to harvest than solar power is. Solar power is difficult to use in cloudy Wisconsin and costs four times as much as wind power.
Using wind power instead of nonrenewable resources keeps many pollutants out of the air. According to MG&E's Web site, its 17-turbine wind farm provides enough electricity annually to offset 18,630 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is approximately the amount that a 3,700-acre forest can remove in a year. The Environmental Protection Agency credits carbon dioxide with one-half to two-thirds of the United States' contribution to global warming, so clearly everything citizens can do to help is needed. Additionally, MG&E's wind farm avoids the burning of 13,000 tons of coal and the release of 106 tons of sulfur dioxide, a gas that contributes to acid rain.
The wind power available in Wisconsin is also produced in Wisconsin. Because this state already imports electricity to meet its needs, any additional electricity provided in-state will lessen the drain on its economy and provide jobs within the state. According to a Wisconsin Energy Bureau estimate, wind projects create three times as many jobs as the same level of spending on fossil fuels. Furthermore, local farmers benefit from the wind turbines located on their land. Seven farmers in Kewaunee County host MG&E's wind turbines and receive a total of $25,000 in lease payments annually for their 600 acres. These farmers can also continue farming on a large majority of their land.
Because electricity is a regulated utility, suppliers are required by the government to provide electricity to customers at the lowest cost possible. Unfortunately, wind power is not the cheapest of the available resources. It costs more than fossil fuels because of the additional expenses of building, operating and maintaining the turbines. Therefore the only way wind power can be utilized by electricity suppliers is for customers to specifically request it.
As MG&E wrote on its Web site, ""Those who value low cost above all else can choose not to participate."" Hopefully many of us value the environment, Wisconsin's economy and the prevention of global warming over a few dollars a month.
To sign up for MG&E's wind-power alternative, simply sign on to their Web site at or call 252-7117.
Alliant Energy also provides electricity to parts of Wisconsin. To take part in its Second Nature program, visit or call 1-800-ALLIANT.
You can also encourage your landlord and other local businesses to take advantage of this opportunity.
Kate Burkart-Paulson is a senior majoring in economics. She is the opinion editor of The Daily Cardinal.
