In print | Published October 23, 2008

To the Editor:

Earthlust would like to congratulate the Phoenix on last week’s thoughtful cover story on sustainability at Swarthmore.  However, we would like to emphasize that we are advocating for wind power as a complement to education and energy conservation, not at their expense.  At a time when the college is setting goals for the next decade there is a particular need to expand the resources devoted to making the campus sustainable.  

Thus we endorse the Sustainability Planning Committee’s policy and curriculum recommendations, but feel that buying 100% wind is an equally essential measure, particularly because it is simple and quantifiable. Individual electricity conservation efforts, while critically important, have an inherent limit.  

By purchasing 100 percent wind the college could remove this limit in a single clearly visible stroke, preventing several millions of pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Announcement of the purchase will in itself serve an educational purpose, and would be a strong first step towards a broad and ambitious greening effort.

National rankings should indeed be taken with a grain of salt, but that does not obviate in any way the need for the college to make a clear institutional commitment to clean energy. Swarthmore cannot presume to educate environmental leaders without getting its own sustainability fundamentals right first.  

We of course do not advocate rushing into an energy purchase without a thorough cost-benefit analysis, one that engages the entire college community.  To promote this process we are hosting a Fireside Chat on Wednesday, October 29, 9:00 PM, at the Kohlberg Coffee Bar. We invite all to bring questions or comments.

Steen Hoyer ’09

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