When I was a fat little fourth-grader, I walked into class one day holding an empty cigarette pack and a crushed can of Budweiser, oblivious to the shock of my teacher and fellow classmates. I was just implementing my plan to reduce litter, which, to me, meant picking up everything I found on the side of the road during my walk to school.
So I guess I've always been a \tree hugger"" at heart. But it doesn't take a tree hugger to realize that UW-Madison's use of energy is polluting and costly. Anyone who has sat in Memorial Union, sweating in their t-shirt in the middle of January, or walked past the Charter Street power plant with its black coal heaps that we inhale daily, has witnessed the energy crisis of the UW firsthand.
The process of coal burning, which provides the majority of our energy on campus, emits poisonous gases like nitrous and sulfur dioxides'known to cause acid rain, mercury poisoning in the lakes and global warming, to name a few.
In Wisconsin, our waterways are so polluted with mercury that pregnant women are advised against eating fish for fear of causing birth defects. And our air is not much cleaner. According to Environmental Decade, 28 people in Madison died prematurely in 1998 due to power plant emissions. Despite these facts, UW-Madison, one of the largest energy users in the city, has yet to install equipment that would regulate toxic gas emissions or invest in clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar power or biomass.
But the type of energy that we burn is only half the problem. The other half is the wastefulness that occurs across campus, and it's affecting our checkbooks as well as our environment. It's buildings being overheated. It's computers not being turned off at night. It's inefficient appliances sucking the money right out of our pockets.
Last year, UW-Madison was $7 million over budget on energy costs. Some people argue that, in light of the budget cut, UW-Madison is facing, we can't afford to invest in new, energy-saving appliances or renewable energy systems. But with prices of fossil fuels on the rise, our energy budget deficit will continue to increase in future years unless we do something about it. Wind and solar power are not subject to market fluctuations, so an investment now would pay itself back and then some in money saved, as would more efficient appliances.
There are many simple steps that can be taken without any additional cost, such as turning computers in labs off at night. In the words of Chancellor Wiley, ""If we cannot reduce our energy costs, it could have a significant negative impact on the university's budget and hence the funding available to everyone.""
For several years, WisPIRG's Big Red, Go Green! Campaign has been working to convince UW-Madison to power its new buildings with renewable energy, minimize power plant pollution with cleaner fuel-burning practices and take simple measures to reduce energy consumption. Specifically, the campaign hopes to see a 7 percent decrease in total energy usage by 2008.
Much can be done, with ease and at no cost, to bring us closer to this goal. Right now, BRGG is concentrating on computer labs across campus, urging them to use sleep mode on computers during the day and to turn them off at night. Some labs already do so, but many do not, even though sleep mode reduces energy usage by 87 percent and turning them off saves even more. Computers are designed to be turned off and on 40,000 times, so turning them off at night shouldn't be a problem.
If you are interested in helping BRGG with its computer lab initiative, you can be part of our grassroots effort without ever attending a meeting. To start with, take a look at your own habits and how you can cut back on energy usage. Then next time you're in a computer lab, ask whoever is working there if they use sleep mode and turn off computers at night, and if not, why they don't. Several labs have already changed due to our grassroots work, but others continue their wasteful practices.
If you really feel passionate about fixing these problems, there are a lot of other ways that you can get involved. Come to one of BRGG's weekly meetings at 8 p.m. Wednesdays in the Paul Bunyan room in the Memorial Union or call the WisPIRG office at 251-5354 for more information. We're also holding a Renewable Energy Fair this Wednesday, March 20, from noon to 4 p.m. on Library Mall. Whether or not you call yourself an ""environmentalist,"" this issue affects us all.
