While students are looking over party platforms in the upcoming Student Government election, there is another issue that they need to be informed on prior to voting. I, along with other students, gathered enough signatures for a nonbinding referendum on green energy to be placed on this semester’s SG ballot.
This nonbinding referendum will ask students if they support the creation of a 50-cent-per-credit-hour fee increase for a green-energy fund. A nonbinding referendum means the result would not have a direct effect, but it is used to gauge student interest. If enough students support the referendum, then it will show the Board of Trustees that students at the University of Florida are serious about clean energy.
The money collected from the fee would go toward funding energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, such as building retrofitting, installing solar panels and changing out energy-inefficient light bulbs. The money the school saves in electricity because of a project would be put back into the fund to invest in even more green-energy projects. With an average annual energy bill of $40 million, these savings could have an enormous impact.
When students hear the word “fee,” the first question they want answered is what the cost for them will be. This is the lowest fee increase ever proposed. It would cost the average student about $6 to $8 but would generate up to $600,000 per year.
The Student Body has shown support for the student green-energy fee in the past. In 2008, a green-energy fee referendum passed with 78 percent support. In the Spring of 2012, a resolution unanimously passed SG Senate supporting a green-energy fee.
Other schools, including the University of South Florida, have a green fee, and it has been working well for them. I’m urging all students to vote yes on the green-energy fund, so we can make the University of Florida greener, which will lead to a better campus and a better Earth for all of us.
[A version of this letter to the editor ran on page 7 on 2/18/2014 under the headline "Vote yes on the Student Green Energy Fund"]
