Join the Conversation
Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more
Check out this story from New America Media: Students Tax Themselves to Make Campuses Greener. This is definately a case of putting your money where your mouth is and says a lot about the importance of environmental issues for the generation now coming of age.
Students at the University of California in Riverside passed a fee referendum in April, agreeing to tax themselves $2.50 per quarter for four years and using the proceeds in part to install solar panels on the student union bulding.
The story quotes student Vicky Truong, 21, who was active in the campaign to pass the green fee" “To us, [the solar panels] are more of a symbol. Students are able to see it and associate our initiative with it. They can see that this is student-run and student-approved. We wanted to showcase that.”
The story says, "In the last five years, green funds have sprouted up on dozens of campuses. The fees, ranging from $2-$5 per semester (or quarter), collect about $250,000 a year to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy and other sustainability efforts. Some fee referendums set aside a portion of the funds – about a third – for financial aid."
