Letters on behalf of the Sierra Club Coal-Free IU

Progress beyond coal

It is easy to fall in love with Bloomington while sitting under a tree on campus. Woods, water and fields adorn the city in scenic glory. The element of nature is rightfully respected from regulating the consumption of the Monroe Reservoir to conserving Brown County State Park. I wonder who in the future might study beneath the merciful shade of this growing green giant, and what kind of world I will be able to leave for them.

On my way home to Forest Quad, I passed an odorous, steam-emitting metal cap on the sidewalk by the parking lot. Looking up at my dorm, I realized the unfathomable amount of energy this building, let alone the whole campus, uses each day and night.

The coal plant burns just a mile away on Fee Lane, producing dirty byproducts like lead and mercury, while this building wastes energy on empty lit rooms, lonely TVs and hot water that runs but neither warms nor washes anything.

The problem is not only that we are using coal energy, but we are using – no, wasting – too much energy to begin with.

All around me flows the cycle of energy being burned, used or not, and returned, tainted, to the environment, while I find myself trying to rationalize our future’s demise, darkening my optimism like acid rain on concrete. Our generation has been faced with a global concern that will literally make or break the healthy existence of this Earth.

Almost half of the carbon dioxide responsible for our anthropogenic depletion of the planet’s atmosphere is produced from burning coal for energy – wasted energy.

How will future generations adapt to the dangerous ultraviolet sun rays? SPF 1500 might be great for Coppertone, Inc., but what about our land, water and personal health? Will we continue to burn the coal for every kilowatt of IU’s electricity even with the knowledge that we are trapping ourselves in a literal gas chamber? Let us escape the unrelenting cycle, the chamber, the source.

Let us progress beyond coal.

Kara Fitzpatrick
IU freshman


Alternative energy for IU

Although I like to think of IU and its students as environmentally friendly and forward-thinking, we still depend on a large coal-burning power plant for our energy. Even more surprising is the fact that many students have no idea that there is a coal power plant on campus.

Coal power is one of the dirtiest forms of energy available. Coal power plants not only emit massive amounts of greenhouse gasses every year, but also heavy metals such as lead and mercury. The mining of coal is a very dirty and dangerous process for both the environment and the people extracting it from the earth.

Many coal advocates claim that the high initial cost of alternative energy sources make them impractical. Although coal is a fairly inexpensive energy source, “green” energy sources are more inexpensive over a long period of time. This is due mostly to their low upkeep cost, and because they require no fuel to produce electricity.

There are many alternative energy sources that can be used at IU. A few promising sources are geothermal, wind and solar power. All of these energy sources have their strengths and weaknesses, but when used together, they become far superior to coal power.

A common misconception about alternative energy is that one must take an all-or-nothing approach. This leads many people to thinking that a solar power facility would not be a viable alternative to conventional energy sources. However, solar power could drastically reduce how much people rely on coal, and when solar power systems are coupled with another, more reliable energy source, such as geothermal power, coal energy can be phased out completely.

Even small gains toward independence from coal can be made if IU decides to install solar panels or geothermal heating systems in a few buildings. Regardless, IU needs to take steps to be independent of coal today.

Nick McKay
IU freshman


Rid campus of the eyesore

As a freshman last year at IU, I would walk up and down Fee Lane daily, headed to Gresham to grab some Taco John’s or often to the sports field to play ultimate Frisbee.

Now, I want to admit something to you. For about six months, with all the trips I took up and down that hill, I never knew what that “thing” behind the Kelley School of Business was. You know what I’m talking about: the metal and steel-laden industrial behemoth guarded by rusted fences and constantly belching opaque smoke into the air.

When I found out that it was a coal plant and was the campus’s primary energy provider, I became confused. I thought coal plants were reserved for West Virginia mining towns and dying Rust Belt cities, not beautiful universities like IU.

Now, everyone, I want you to raise your hand if, when walking down Fee Lane on a chilly but clear blue fall morning, you personally enjoy passing the coal plant situated behind Kelley.

Anyone? Just scratching your nose? No, I wasn’t really expecting anyone to raise a hand.

The coal plant at IU is harmful and backward thinking, plain and simple. There is no reason for a university as highly regarded and technologically advanced as this to still be using coal as a primary energy source.

With the growing popularity and need for renewable energy, IU has waited long enough to jump on the bandwagon. I don’t want to have to walk by that coal plant and have my conscience heavy with the negative effects it imposes on our health and our environment.

By show of hands, no one else does either, and IU has the responsibility to rid our campus of the eyesore and health hazard: the coal plant.

Hannah Hunt
IU sophomore