Seize opportunity to use green energy

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It’s not always easy being green.

Michigan has the perfect opportunity to transition to a cleaner, more energy efficient economy. With the American automobile industry in shambles and a lack of blue-collar jobs, now is the time to jump on the green bandwagon.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Capitol have been pushing the message to transform automobile production into a clean industry for years. She has called on energy companies to invest in wind and alternative energy. She makes the effort to travel worldwide to bring business to the state. Last, but certainly not least, the Senate has floated the idea to provide tax incentives for individuals who construct LEED-certified buildings.

Anyone has the capacity to recycle and reduce his or her carbon footprint while the government most certainly is rooting for the cause.

But let’s at least be passionate about future prospects of the economy.

The movement to buy organic, drive hybrid vehicles and recycle is so much a daily occurrence in our lives that it’s difficult to describe the push as a fad. Honestly, whether or not the trend dies out, any attempt to improve the environment and our surroundings is the ultimate positive.

Even if global climate change is a lie, or at least not occurring as much as the world is persuaded to believe, any “green” initiative would not only make the world a better place for us, but future generations. It’s difficult to argue against clean air and water, for one.

Recent investments have shown corporations are on board with Granholm’s proposals. Last month, the Dow Chemical Company announced it will invest $1 billion in clean energy projects across the state. Even economically depressed locations are drawing attention. In Flint, a renewable energy and wireless broadband supplier aims to usher in an $18 million investment and create roughly 750 jobs.

Like going green, greenbacks are “in,” and everyone knows we all could use the wealth in our state.

Positioning the state’s economy into one that is environmentally friendly is a “natural” transition for the state to follow though. Our many lakes, mountains and natural resources are reason enough to invest. A futuristic-sounding thought of driving cars that run on batteries via an energy company beginning to harvest wind sounds better than the Rust Belt being kept alive with foreign oil.

As students attending a university that prides itself on “being Spartan green,” we all should take note. The recycling bins across campus not only are a reminder to take your own part in our environment, but they are just a starting point in what the university has to offer. As the pioneer land grant university, MSU understands the importance of working toward a greener future.

Although less represented today since the school’s founding, course offerings revolve around the overall mission of “advancing knowledge.” In this case, whether you’re an engineering or business major, the opportunity to formulate an idea, invention or solution to an issue exists in the sense of a greater cause — solving our world’s problems. And of course, the state would love to have you here postgraduation.

Being stewards of the environment starts with society as a whole. Although a great deal of scepticism exists, we cannot look into the past and continue to have an economy driven off a dying automobile industry and foreign oil.

To our lawmakers and those naysayers — we have this one shot to lead the nation and rid ourselves of this economic downfall. Go Green.

Andrew Krietz is a State News intern. Reach him at krietzan@msu.edu.

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