Friday, March 29, 2024

Continued coal usage taints university's 'green' image

College is nothing if not eye-opening. As a freshman, I’ve taken in a lot of shocking scenes here at MSU during the past few weeks, but the most jarring thing by far is the coal plant my fellow students and I traipse past on a daily basis.

It was mind-boggling to tell my parents “You can park in front of the coal plant” on move-in day, and the more I learn about MSU’s embarrassing dependence on coal, the more I am unsettled.

MSU’s on-campus coal plant is the largest of any university in the nation. That is scandalous! We are a Big Ten school, a leader in research and innovation, and proudly — loudly — “green,” in many senses of the word.

Why are we still fueling our forward-thinking academic pursuits with an outdated, dangerous and costly type of energy?! It is hard to show Spartan spirit when our lungs are too riddled with toxins such as mercury, arsenic and other chemicals, to wheeze through a “Go green, go white!”

Our health, our wealth and our reputation are at risk every day we Spartans get our power from coal. It is essential that MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and the rest of our administration realize this, and in response, stop using coal and step into the future that is ours to make green.

Marley Ward, no-preference freshman

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