TO THE EDITOR:
UNC has given a green light to provide $500,000 in capital for a Green Revolving Loan Fund that would finance substantial investments to improve how our campus uses energy.
This will build on existing initiatives like the student-led Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee and UNC’s Energy Management that have already resulted in significant energy and cost savings.
The idea is the result of a joint proposal by the Sierra Student Coalition, the Roosevelt Institute, and the School of Government’s Environmental Finance Center.
After being pitched to Chancellor Holden Thorp and the vice chancellor’s sustainability advisory committee last semester, Student Body President Mary Cooper diligently pushed the proposal forward throughout the summer.
While our politicians at the state and federal level increasingly either deny climate science or oppose climate action, university communities like Chapel Hill that are investing in the clean energy economy are paving the way toward a more sustainable and climate-friendly future.
And there’s plenty of work to do — UNC has more than $600 million in deferred maintenance projects across campus where we can improve the way our buildings use energy. The more money that we can invest in these types of projects, the better.
The great news is that this fund will grow in the future. Of the Green Revolving Loan Funds that exist at universities across the country, the reported median annual return on investment is a whopping 32 percent. Carolina students and UNC officials should commit to replicating that kind of environmental (and financial) success right here.
Stewart Boss
Co-chairman, UNC Sierra Student Coalition
