Letter to the Editor:

Coal should be a thing of the past

By Ashley Frayne, freshman

Published Oct. 27, 2009

It was great to read the recent article "Colleges Are Battlegrounds for Coal Fight" in the New York Times and learn that students, on a national level, are taking acting on coal pollution nationally. However, this is more than just a national predicament, it is happening on a local level, right before our very own eyes.

Coal is America's dirtiest fossil fuel used today and a major contributor to global warming. Yet, it provides over 80 percent of on-campus energy generation here at Mizzou.

Yes, coal, containing arsenic, lead and mercury, powers our university but, in the 21st century, why are we exposing our students, families and communities to adverse health affects that these metalloids cause?

Arsenic exposure is highly dangerous to the development of an unborn child. As a hopeful mother someday, I do not want to conceive an infant into a world of harmful chemicals, and watch the child grow up to suffer from asthma and neurological disorders associated with toxins from coal.

Further, as a student at Mizzou, I would like to live in a community that didn't burn coal, thus increasing my own vulnerability to lung cancer, respiratory disease and mercury poisoning.

Because Mizzou has its own power plant, it gives us the freedom to choose an alternative to coal energy. Universities should be a place of growth and education where students can flourish, not a place of harmful pollution. Let's move beyond dirty coal, starting here at Mizzou.