For Pierce College to merit the label “green,” it should require every aspect of this school to be eco-conscious – this, we have not yet fully achieved.
The Clinton Climate Initiative honored the Los Angeles Community College District’s Green Building Program, which is the highest environmental accolade in the state, but how much of the school’s efforts are going to waste?
Every environmentally-efficient act the school and district takes seems to be countered by an almost equally harmful one.
Our farmyards alone have been tipping the balance for most of our eco-friendly efforts, but recent undertakings by the administration have been curtailing most of the environmental harm it may have previously caused.
The runoff of storm water used to flood El Rancho Drive subsequently polluted storm drains with manure-diffused water and damaged sensitive vegetation.
At the same time, we could be seriously encouraging the use of alternate fuels such as vegetable oil to power our tractors on the farms, and the construction equipment virtually everywhere else.
We’ve spent millions on micro turbines that conserve energy and help air-condition classrooms and offices on campus, but we have yet to fill the campus mall with trees that create refuge during summer’s scorching heat.
The amount of asphalt on campus – not to mention the larger amount of cars in our parking lots – creates a reflection that raises the temperature of the campus’ surface area, which directly affects our need for the air-conditioning system in the first place.
Environmental consequences must be on the mind of every college employee, construction consultant, engineer, board member and student in order for this school to be considered “green.” People come and go on this campus, and the chances are Pierce will be here longer than we will.
Many Pierce students are off-campus activists. Whether for women’s rights or against the War on Terror, the act of banding together for a cause has led to change throughout history.
Yet, we aren’t active about this message. Let’s not allow this “green” school to turn brown.
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