The UW-Madison chapter of the Sierra Club visited Chancellor John Wiley's office Tuesday afternoon, leaving behind postcards and a holiday gift.
But the trinkets were meant to urge the chancellor to rid downtown Madison of the Charter Street power plant, located at the corner of Charter and Dayton streets, rather than spread holiday cheer.
The group delivered more than 700 postcards to Wiley's office, along with a stocking full of coal to stress the community's devotion to the environment, pointing specifically to global warming and transportation pollution concerns created by coal emissions.
""The coal-fired Charter Street plant stands in stark contrast to the university's efforts to promote energy efficiency, conservation and environmentally friendly energy sources,"" said Susie Levy, Sierra Club intern and UW-Madison senior, in a release. ""We know there are safer, cleaner and more efficient ways to power our university.""
The club pointed to natural gas as a viable option for energy rather than coal, noting that natural gas emits less soot pollution and no mercury pollution.
""Every time I ride my bike by the huge piles of coal, I can't help but think that there is a dirty old dinosaur in the middle of our city,"" said UW-Madison senior and Sierra Club member Ashley Brenke.
