Editorial: Green power!

Recent efforts by the Duke Environmental Alliance through the Duke Green Power Challenge has led to over 300 students signing up to pledge $25 per semester to offset the cost of shifting some of the University's power consumption from traditional sources to renewable energy sources like wind power. Moreover, the administration has not only allowed students to charge the $25 to FLEX, it has also pledged to match student contributions up to $25,000. The efforts of the Duke Environmental Alliance and the willingness of the administration to support these efforts should be commended.

In the long run, shifting to environmentally-friendly energy sources such as wind or nuclear power will help protect the planet from the dangerous and unpleasant effects associated with burning fossil fuels to generate power. However, wind power costs significantly more to provide than traditional power - about 2.5 cents per kilowatt hours - meaning that someone needs to bear this additional cost if the University wants to use cleaner energy sources until market forces drive the cost of alternate energy sources downward.

The optional, opt-in system the University is letting students participate in is a perfect system, since it allows those students who care most strongly about the environment - and thus get the most benefit from protecting the environment - to bear the cost of the switch to alternative energy sources without penalizing those students who may be indifferent to the environment or, even, support the tradition method of burning fossil fuels for whatever reason.

Although the fact that the University is supporting this effort raises some concern, especially since the budget is suffering in so many other areas, in the big scheme of things $25,000 is not so much money. The University should be taking steps to reduce the environmental impact its power use has, and this money is a small move in that direction. Additionally, the Duke Environmental Alliance saved the University $800,000 over the next 10 years by advocating that the University switch to more energy-efficient light bulbs, and thus this program serves in some way as a reward for those savings.

However, the University must not make this program mandatory and should not require students to pay for using alternative energy sources. The University should never include fees for alternative energy in tuition, room and board or any student activities fees that students are forced to pay. The possibility of the University making this fee mandatory is especially troubling because the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill forced a similar fee upon its students.

The system should continue to operate on an opt-in basis with those students who care paying and those students who care less about the environment not paying. The Duke Environmental Alliance should be commended for its efforts thus far, but should focus its energies in the future on convincing more students to participate in the voluntary system rather than try to make the system mandatory.