GUEST COLUMN
Working toward sustainable living might be difficult, but it just might be the most important thing you ever do.
In the short term, progress toward waste reduction, cleaner energy, pollution minimization and a myriad of other environmental problems poses unavoidable costs. It’s understandable that some state residents might feel as if their lives are being interrupted for the sake of a campaign that won’t deliver them “immediate” benefits.
However, we must consider what’s at stake in the long term.
This state leads the nation in the highest amount of premature deaths a year due to polluted air, according to a 2013 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study. This same pollution also causes increased rates of asthma and respiratory illnesses in children and is detrimental to the health of all residents within our state.
Not only do emissions from burning fossil fuels pose significant risks to state residents’ health, they are also the biggest single source of global warming pollution in the state. Sea level rise due to climate change will impact the Chesapeake Bay region drastically, rendering this state as the third most vulnerable to sea level rise. Combustion of fossil fuels has an incredibly large impact on our environment and public health, and its effects will only worsen as we continue exploiting these toxic energy sources.
To its credit, the state government is making strides to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The current Renewable Portfolio Standard, or RPS, mandates that 20 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources — wind, solar and hydroelectric — by 2022.
The Student Sustainability Committee at this university believes that the issues we face are too pressing, the time period allocated too long. The strides currently being made just aren’t enough.
We can do better.
We’re acting in support of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, which is working in a coalition with other environmental organizations such as Sierra Club for the club’s “Forward With 40%” campaign.
It asks our state General Assembly leaders to pass a bill this spring doubling the RPS threshold to 40 percent renewable energy sources by 2025. In the process, this will reduce pollution, improve environmental health statewide and provide thousands of new jobs in clean energy.
Doubling our clean energy capabilities will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and will improve our air quality, known nationwide as the worst on the East Coast. It will create thousands of new construction, manufacturing and engineering jobs in solar, wind and other forms of clean and renewable energy.
We cannot ignore the consequences of failing to act. Damaging our environment is akin to damaging ourselves, and continuing to exploit fossil fuels as a dirty energy source further will harm the fragile ecosystems we depend upon.
Come the spring legislative session, we need to ensure that our legislators know that this university is committed to a sustainable, more equitable future. Sign the Student Sustainability Committee’s petition, call your local senator and delegate and come to a meeting. Join us in sparking a change for the better.
Marcus Fedarko is a freshman computer science major and a member of the Student Sustainability Committee. He can be reached at marcus.fedarko@gmail.com.
