Buildings across campus sport signs proudly proclaiming UW-Madison's ""We Conserve"" campaign to slash energy consumption 20 percent on a per-square-foot basis by 2010. UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley said the program, announced in May, ""will encourage smart energy use that will help protect the environment.""
Soon UW-Madison will have a chance to prove its commitment to environmentally safe energy use—as the Sierra Club prepares to sue UW-Madison over alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its Charter Street coal-fired power plant.
Given the university's avowed support for the environment, UW-Madison should gracefully accept the scrutiny implied by the Sierra Club suit.
At the least, UW-Madison should energetically meet the minimum expectations of the Clean Air Act without looking for ways to avoid or delay potentially expensive plant modifications or plant replacement.
Ideally, of course, UW-Madison should be farsighted enough to modernize the facility by replacing it with state-of-the-art technology.
Since UW-Madison is one of the capital city's major energy consumers, how much or little the university curbs power plant pollution affects the well-being of people throughout the region.
Coal-fired power plants emit a wide range of pollutants, including carbon dioxide, soot, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These pollutants are the major cause of global warming, smog, acid rain and ozone. The power industry also emits more mercury than any other major industry.
Mercury is not merely a nuisance, but a major health hazard that damages the nervous system even in small amounts. Currently, many fish in Wisconsin lakes and streams are dangerously saturated with mercury—from power plants—and on ""no-eat"" lists for pregnant women and children.
Even the most up-to-date technology creates some pollution, but use of progressively older technology—even if permitted by sluggish laws—creates much more.
UW-Madison prides itself on being one of the nation's best public universities and a leader in many fields from biotechnology to computer architecture.
As a leader, UW-Madison should not only fully comply with current U.S. environmental laws, but move ahead of the pack as much as possible, even if doing so requires the major expense of replacing the Charter Street plant.
