The university will begin to use renewable sources for more than half of its electricity starting toward the end of this year.
Although we disagree with some of Ohio University's practices when it comes to how the school gets energy, we were heartened to see OU's announcement Tuesday that starting this December, it plans on acquiring renewable sources for 50 percent of its electricity.
We see this message as a step in the right direction since the university has not previously taken the best course of action regarding environmental sustainability.
In February, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc. announced its plan to drill underneath the Hocking River to acquire natural gas, which is not a renewable energy source. That resulted in a demonstration at the pipeline construction site this summer by the Student Union and local anti-fracking group Appalachia Resist! who demanded the university commit to only renewable energy sources.
The university is transitioning away from burning coal to natural gas at its Lausche Heating Plant. Though burning natural gas is cleaner than burning coal, extracting the non-renewable resource and getting it to Athens comes at a destructive cost.
This latest announcement, however, seems to be a positive departure from the university’s long overdue transition away from coal. It’s an encouraging move toward sustainability.
It's worth noting that just last week, Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said he considers climate change the nation's biggest threat to national security and that the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently reported that last month was the hottest September on record.
We hope the promise doesn’t prove to be an empty one, and that OU sets an example in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Emma Ockerman, Managing Editor Rebekah Barnes, Opinion Editor Will Gibbs and Digital Managing Editor Samuel Howard. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
