EcoSense, Student Government, Alpha Phi Omega and the College Democrats have teamed up to move AU toward greater sustainability by creating a Clean Energy Revolving Fund.
The fund will enable students, alumni and anybody else with an interest in AU’s commitment to sustainability to donate to a fund that is specifically set aside to pursue clean energy projects on campus.
CERF will give “people with ideas and imagination the tools to protect the environment,” said Mike Mayer, a former undergraduate senator who sponsored a bill in the Senate supporting the fund.
The fund is called “revolving” because the money AU saves from decreased energy costs will then be kicked into the fund to finance future renewable energy projects.
Drew Veysey, EcoSense president and SG Environmental policy director who helped write the Senate bill, praised the design.
“The money that is given to the Clean Energy Revolving Fund will be used over and over again,” he said.
The fund also incentivizes donors.
“Students will be more likely [to donate] if they can see what they’re giving to,” MacCracken said. “If you give 10 dollars to put in a solar panel, there are opportunities to see the product of your contribution.”
By passing this bill, AU is on its way to becoming the 55th college or university in the country to establish a CERF.
Madeline Howard, a sophomore at Georgetown University, said she was jealous that AU was ahead of Georgetown and that it sounded like a “great idea.”
George Washington University has simultaneously taken on a similar initiative.
CERF adds to the growing list of sustainable practices at AU including a plastic bag recycling program in residence halls and the creation of the Office of Sustainability.
“CERF is great for the environment because renewable energy created on campus would reduce AU’s dependence on coal and dirty energy sources,” said Jennifer Jones, Environmental Policy deputy director for SG and EcoSense policy director. “Having renewable energy sources on campus would help AU reach [the university’s carbon-neutral] goal.”
AU recently received a B from the College Sustainability Report Card, up from the university’s B- in 2009 and a D+ in 2008.
“The big question on the table is where it goes from here,” MacCracken said. Fundraising will be a priority if the fund is to be a success and he said that the Student Government has “circulated a letter of interest and have roughly 20 student groups that we think will be active in fundraising.”
Furthermore, SG members have talked to the president of the alumni association and believe they will gain traction from alumni donations too.
However, the details of the accounting practices for the fund still need ironing out, according to MacCracken.
“I hope that by the end of the semester an account can be set up to start receiving donations,” Veysey said. “My hope is that the CERF board will be in place to direct funds by the middle of next semester.”
Yet there is more AU can do to minimize the university’s environmental impact, Jones said.
“We need to get bottled water off our campus, bio-diesel in our shuttles, automatic double sided printing in the library, and much more,” she said. “American University has done a great deal to become more sustainable, but we can still do a lot more.”
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