National Action for a Clean Energy Future

A crisp, wind-chilled 40 degrees greeted the four Eco Miners staking the 200 pinwheels across the Havener Center lawn to mark the beginning of the ‘Day of Action’ on November 18. The fliers had been posted, the cookies had been baked, the National Action for a Clean Energy Future banner had been posted, the "Moving S&T Beyond Coal" newspaper article had been published in The Missouri Miner, and the more than 70 student petitions had been collected when part two of the Eco Miners Beyond Coal events began to take shape.

Each day of November until the event, we promoted the Beyond Coal campaign and our upcoming events by tabling at the Havener Center. There we were able to construct the pinwheels for our day of action and effectively start the conversation of moving S&T beyond coal. Throughout this process, our bright yellow Beyond Coal shirts were catching the attention of many and sparked great conversations with students, faculty and community members alike. We were taken by the number of people interested in the campaign, and excited by the great conversations that we held with many fellow students on campus. More than once, we had friendly folk stop by to ask, "How much are the shirts?" And more than once, curiosity would peak the interest of those passing by and we would have to answer the most common question, “So what’s this Beyond Coal campaign all about?” These questions, and more, were answered at the action on November 18 with free Beyond Coal t-shirts and a series of speakers.

In anticipation of the events planned for the action outside of the Havener Center, free hot chocolate and abundant baked treats gathered a great group of students around the Eco Miners sharing information about the Beyond Coal campaign and the national day of action. Speaking about the S&T administrative decision to research alternative sources of energy, Eco Miners Communications Manager and Greek Representative, Jordan Hindman stated, “Eco Miners recognizes the current need for coal; however, confronts the numerous unsustainable aspects of it.” Many of the conversations contributed to the petitions supporting a coal-free S&T that were collected during the event. Others continued conversations from the coal documentary film, “Dirty Business” shown on campus by Eco Miners the night before.

There were many brave souls that endured the still chilly weather to hear our own Melissa Elder and Labadie’s Patricia Schuba speak about the campaign and the effects of coal on human health and the environment. Eco Miners Public Relations Chairperson, Melissa Elder began with these words, “we collectively recognize in the Beyond Coal campaign that coal is a finite fossil-fuel and a transition to an integrated, more just and sustainable energy future for S&T is what we should be supporting as students and a higher education institution.” Patricia Schuba, from Labadie Environmental Organization, elaborated on the human health and environmental implications of a coal-fired power plant located on the Missouri River in her hometown of Labadie, MO.

Following this, we had over 100 petitions signed moved to take a group picture amidst the pinwheels with most everyone wearing Beyond Coal shirts! All of the pinwheels will be sent to Washington D.C. along with the 6,000 others made by campuses around the nation. They then will be distributed to the Environmental Protection Agency, The Department of Energy, and our elected officials on capital hill to illustrate student support of renewable energy sources.

Soon after our campaign on Thursday, an article posted on November 22 in S&T’s ‘News and Events’ announced that S&T will be replacing our 65 year old coal power plant with a geothermal energy project. The project is expected to reduce Missouri S&T's carbon dioxide emissions by more than 25,000 tons per year. This is extremely exciting news to not only the Eco Miners, but also to many other campuses around the country, showing that the transition is not only possible, but is happening. While this transition may take around five years to complete, the fact that our campus is choosing to do this now is motivational. We, as a university of Science and Technology, will now lead by example for other universities around the nation to also make the transition to cleaner, healthier, renewable energy.