No time like the present to push for energy reform

TO THE EDITOR

I write in response to Meghan Corbet’s letter “UNC can and must do more to wean itself from coal.” I agree with her assessment that we do not need to debate the existence of global warming. A liberal arts university that prides itself on the free exchange of ideas is no place for debate.

Never mind that Al Gore’s heralded “An Inconvenient Truth” has inconveniently turned out to make conveniently false claims according to a British court. Let’s look past the fact that the polar bear population has increased 400 percent since the 1960s. The debate is over on our campus.

What we ought to be focusing on at UNC, in addition to forcing faculty into early retirement, suffering from shortfalls in financial aid and firing staff, is replacing our relatively cheap and reliable energy source (coal) with newer technologies that are expensive to implement.

As Corbet indicated, we should act like Duke and move forward with these costly projects. In spite of the fact that our state funding has been dramatically reduced, there is no time like the present to act. It is a good thing that I agree with Corbet. It’s useless not to because the debate is over!



Jason Sutton
Junior
Political Science