College Students and Social Change
Sierra Club Helps Students Fight Against Coal on Campus
College students are in a very powerful place in their lives to make change on a grand scale. The 18 to twenty-somethings are grouped together, educated and generally open to looking at the world in a new light, as they are recently freed from the influence of their parents. We encourage the college students we work with to become involved in active in the educational process beyond the classroom, that is, what is going on socially with their peers. Social change can happen on a grand scale, beginning with the college campus. Take the example of protests going on all over campuses over the use of coal. From Penn State to Georgia State, students are protesting the use of coal-based fuel, some of which produces the majority of power on campus.
Coal was among the first fossil fuels to be collected for producing energy or power. It lost favor when oil and gas were found to burn more cleanly. However, coal has once again become useful for generating power or providing heat or electricity. New technologies have reduced the harmful emissions that result from burning coal. Students on the campuses that use coal are concerned that the harm to the environment isn’t worth the cost savings of using a non-renewable resource. Furthermore, students are upset over the message that colleges are sending. As institutions of higher learning, colleges should be ashamed of campuses that operate coal plants. Coal, just like wood and other fossil fuels, is a limited resource. The over-use of coal, with its inevitable carbon dioxide emissions, is attributed to increasing the greenhouse affect. Keep an eye on how well students are doing in kicking coal off college campuses.
Students can make a difference on a global scale. Get involved in social change issues on your college campus and you’ll meet people, learn about change in a changing world and do something productive with the power you have.
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