ERC launces energy conservation campaign

Jamie Rosen Staff Writer

In an ongoing effort to add wind power to Vassar’s current energy sources, the Environmental Responsibility Committee has started a campus-wide energy conservation campaign. Money saved as a result of the campaign will subsidize the premium required for the New Wind Energy Company to add wind energy to the output of power supplier Central Hudson.

“We’re trying to get the campus to conserve enough energy so our bill goes down to compensate for the extra amount that we’d be paying,” said Emily Avery-Miller ’05, purchasing intern for the ERC. “If we can hit a goal dollar-amount savings that’s enough to buy wind power, we hope to do it that way.”
The ERC has been trying to get wind power for years, but Vassar’s budget has not allowed for the extra cost. “It comes down to an economic concern,” said Avery-Miller. “Vassar has a tight budget, and there’s not a lot of money floating around that they could easily dedicate to getting wind power. We’ve had to look for creative ways of making funds available.”

This year’s campaign, which resulted from conversations between the ERC and the administration, may allow Vassar to purchase wind power as early as two months from now, according to ERC Education Intern Lisa Rebert ’07. Organizers hope that students will help the campaign and participate actively.

“We’re really focusing on individual students,” she said. “We feel that if every student cuts down just a little, that would be enough to get a week’s worth of wind power each month. If everyone cuts back a little bit—turns off their computer at night or turns off a light for an extra hour or two— that will actually be enough.”

Members of the ERC want to purchase wind power to support the emergent environmentally-sound industry. “We think it’s a great way to support a clean, renewable source of energy,” said Avery-Miller. “Because it’s a growing industry, they rely on this extra support that people give. In order to make it more accessible, they need this start-up capital.”

Associate Professor of Geology Jeff Walker, Faculty Chair of the ERC, said that Vassar’s support of wind power will probably prove to be financially sensible, despite the premium it requires. “Right now, the College buys most of their energy produced from oil-fired or coal-fired nuclear power plants,” he said. “The price of electricity is going to go up. The price of the wind generators is a fixed cost and ought to go up not nearly as much as oil.”

Avery-Miller is currently researching New Wind Energy to ensure that their financial profile, workplace ethics, and environmental practices are sound.

The ERC plans to promote the campaign through campus-wide e-mails to students and faculty, as well as tabling in the College Center. Members will encourage individual and departmental energy pledges and the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs. Avery-Miller said she is working with CIS and the custodial staff to discuss other energy-saving changes.

Vassar has executed several major energy conservation projects in past years, including the installation of energy-efficient light fixtures and repairing leaky steam pipes. These efforts have been important, and the current campaign is an extension of the same priority of conservation.

“Vassar’s done a lot in the last ten to 15 years in terms of institutional things, like more energy efficiency in terms of lighting and some of the big things that the individual can’t control,” said Walker. “Part of the energy conservation campaign is showing that there’s been a history of interest in energy conservation. It’s a part of the history of the College.”

Vassar Greens President Dana Thomas ’06 said the club is working with the ERC to promote energy conservation and will host an event called “Do It In the Dark.”

“It’s candle lit with acoustic music and food that doesn’t have to be baked,” said Thomas. “This year, since it’s going along with this wind energy campaign, we’re trying to make it more education-oriented than it has been in the past.”

Efforts for long-term energy conservation are ongoing. “The biggest challenge really is to make the conservation of electricity much more widespread, much more a part of daily life,” said Walker. “We would like for an effort to conserve energy to become a part of the fabric of Vassar College.”