When UO student Dalton Fusco was told that only .02% of Oregon’s energy was solar, she wanted to make a change. She joined students in the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group’s UO chapter in implementing their Go Solar Oregon campaign, in which they are trying to persuade governor Kate Brown to commit to Oregon going 10% solar by 2025.
President Obama wants the U.S. to get 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 in his climate plan. OSPIRG members thought campaigning for the usage of solar energy would contribute to this plan the most, since the percentage of solar energy used in Oregon is so low.
“Sometimes Oregon isn’t as green as you perceive it from the outside,” Fusco said. “But this is a great way to make Oregon the green state that it is and that it can be.”
Members of OSPIRG agree that using renewable energy is a great way to combat climate change and its negative effects.
One of the main benefits of switching to solar energy is that it doesn’t pollute the environment like fossil fuels do, said Environmental Oregon intern Caitlin Feely.
Feely said that while solar development needs a push on the state level, at the University it has received widespread support.
This was most prevalent when OSPIRG asked students to sign a petition for a ballot measure on ASUO’s election ballots in spring. This measure would ask voting students if they support Oregon’s solar energy conversion. After over 1,500 students signed the petition, the measure was placed on the ballot.
The results of the ballot will mirror this student support, Kat Lockwood, OSPIRG Organizing Director said. She hopes that when the governor sees this, solar energy conversion will become a priority.
“We want to be able to symbolically say that that the entire University of Oregon voted on this,” said UO chapter chair Hannah Picknell.
Students in the Sustainability Coalition are already trying to implement a more solar campus by requesting a grant to place solar panels on top of the EMU during its renovation process.
Fusco, a Sustainability Coalition Outreach Executive, said that this would add to Oregon’s energy portfolio and encourage other campuses to do the same thing.
Environmental Oregon is also enforcing solar energy by trying to renew bills and get new bills passed in Oregon’s legislature that make receiving solar energy easier. They have also been collaborating with OSPIRG by helping them host a town hall meeting next term that will center on the importance of going solar.
“Now is the time to act on solar energy,” Feely said. “Anything we can do to push solar development, we should be doing.”
Feely said the biggest reason solar energy hasn’t been given much attention in recent years is that it’s expensive. However, once solar energy becomes more widely used, economies of scale should drive prices lower.
Lockwood said that global warming and climate change are some of the biggest issues facing young people today and using solar energy is one way to address the problem.
“There’s not any good reason why we haven’t had solar energy in Oregon,” Lockwood said. “So, let’s get some.”
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