Letter to the Editor: MU students need to support clean energy
Published Nov. 9, 2010
As a student majoring in environmental sciences, I am striving to attain the knowledge and skills needed to make a difference in the way we use our planet's resources. Therefore, like thousands of others from universities across the state, I'm hoping to join one of the world's fastest growing job sectors upon graduation: the clean energy industry.
We have vast clean and renewable energy resources right here in Missouri, and we are just beginning to take advantage of this potential. However, to make the transition to a clean energy economy, we need a strong grassroots effort with a generation that can inspire social change: young people our age.
Growing up in Missouri, I have seen the benefits of clean energy-focused communities in person. Columbia has led the way with local renewable initiatives for years, providing incentives for home weatherization and individual solar panel installation. As well, the northwestern Missouri town of Rock Port became the first in the country to supply all of its energy needs entirely by wind power, additionally creating 500 jobs in a rural community of 1,300 people.
We all know finding a job is not easy. While the economy is slowly bouncing back, the economic realities facing our generation are especially bleak. Nationwide, almost 20 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are unemployed, more than double the national unemployment rate.
However, we do not have to accept this bleak economic outlook. With strong leadership, we can empower the American economy and create almost 2 million jobs all across the country, including up to 29,000 jobs in Missouri, by changing the way we utilize energy in our country.
We have tremendous economic potential to produce renewable energy, such as wind, solar and geothermal power, and invest in ways to improve energy efficiency. By shifting to a clean energy economy, we can create jobs for young people in a full range of fields, including architecture, engineering, entrepreneurship and many more.
As well, just six months ago, we saw a catastrophe unfold in the Gulf of Mexico when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing 11 people and gushing out nearly 200 million gallons of oil. This disaster should have been a wakeup call about the devastating consequences for our environment and our economy as long as we rely on oil. Put into perspective, we throw away the equivalent of the cost of a four-year education for a student at one of our state's public universities every few seconds to buy oil.
My generation deserves better than this. We need to create the jobs that will put Americans of all ages back to work, and we need to develop a clean energy economy that will help ensure the jobs, safety and environmental preservation we all deserve. We must support initiatives for Missouri to lead on climate and clean energy, which will create the opportunities for thousands of others and myself to succeed. MU students can't afford to sit idly by; it's time for action on clean energy.