2008 Woodie Awards
Group gauges interest in green energy fee
Angela Valente
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: News
By Angela Valente
staff reporter
A campus environmental group is attempting to determine whether students will pay for green energy at UTC.
The student group Environmental Decisions for a Global Environment has been busy for the past two weeks distributing surveys to various academic departments in order to gauge students' general level of interest in purchasing clean energy, otherwise known as green energy.
The purpose of the survey is to spearhead a program at UTC that is already being implemented at UTK, Tennessee Tech and East Tennessee State where students voluntarily pay a little extra every semester for an energy fee.
As of Sept. 15, nearly 700 surveys had been collected, representing the sentiments of between 9 and 10 percent of the student population. Although the entire student population has not responded to the survey, over 20 separate departments have been sampled.
"We want to get a true representative sample," Brad Reynolds, a biology and environmental science professor and one of the two faculty advisors for the EDGE , said. "We want, through UTC, to start purchasing green energy - in other words, energy that is produced in a clean, environmentally friendly way, like solar energy or wind power energy, as opposed to coal energy."
According to Reynolds, the problem with coal is that it produces large amounts of pollution, which is bad not only for the environment, but also for the health of the residents of the Tennessee Valley.
"This fee is different from any other fee," Reynolds said. "For example, you many never attend any of UTC's games, but you're charged an athletic fee.
"But the one constant across the campus is that everybody uses energy. In that sense, the environmental fee is something that everyone would benefit from," Reynolds said.
Monica Bailes, a senior from Chattanooga, said she wouldn't mind an extra $10 or $12 a semester.
"Anything that's better for the environment is always a good idea," she said.
According to Reynolds, the funds from the proposed fee will go not only to purchasing green energy, but also bringing back recycling.
Brandon Wright, a sophomore from Bluefield, Va., said, "[UTC] does more [to help the environment] than other colleges I've gone to."
Reynolds said he puts the responsibility for the decision squarely on the student body.
"This is something that, if the students want it, we're going to do it, and if they don't want it, then it won't get done," he said. "It's up to the students."
staff reporter
A campus environmental group is attempting to determine whether students will pay for green energy at UTC.
The student group Environmental Decisions for a Global Environment has been busy for the past two weeks distributing surveys to various academic departments in order to gauge students' general level of interest in purchasing clean energy, otherwise known as green energy.
The purpose of the survey is to spearhead a program at UTC that is already being implemented at UTK, Tennessee Tech and East Tennessee State where students voluntarily pay a little extra every semester for an energy fee.
As of Sept. 15, nearly 700 surveys had been collected, representing the sentiments of between 9 and 10 percent of the student population. Although the entire student population has not responded to the survey, over 20 separate departments have been sampled.
"We want to get a true representative sample," Brad Reynolds, a biology and environmental science professor and one of the two faculty advisors for the EDGE , said. "We want, through UTC, to start purchasing green energy - in other words, energy that is produced in a clean, environmentally friendly way, like solar energy or wind power energy, as opposed to coal energy."
According to Reynolds, the problem with coal is that it produces large amounts of pollution, which is bad not only for the environment, but also for the health of the residents of the Tennessee Valley.
"This fee is different from any other fee," Reynolds said. "For example, you many never attend any of UTC's games, but you're charged an athletic fee.
"But the one constant across the campus is that everybody uses energy. In that sense, the environmental fee is something that everyone would benefit from," Reynolds said.
Monica Bailes, a senior from Chattanooga, said she wouldn't mind an extra $10 or $12 a semester.
"Anything that's better for the environment is always a good idea," she said.
According to Reynolds, the funds from the proposed fee will go not only to purchasing green energy, but also bringing back recycling.
Brandon Wright, a sophomore from Bluefield, Va., said, "[UTC] does more [to help the environment] than other colleges I've gone to."
Reynolds said he puts the responsibility for the decision squarely on the student body.
"This is something that, if the students want it, we're going to do it, and if they don't want it, then it won't get done," he said. "It's up to the students."
