Students promote environmentalism

An average light bulb is just as eco-friendly as an energy-efficient light bulb - if they're both turned off. That was just one of the many interesting points mentioned during the DePauw Environmental Policy Project's presentation Tuesday.Seven of the 13 students that were involved with project during the summer took turns conveying their knowledge and concerns about Indiana's lackluster environmental policies at the event in Watson Forum.

Sophomore policy intern Anthony Baratta began the night by telling the crowd how the project was started. When Forbes Magazine ranked Indiana as the 49th greenest state, the DePauw Environmental Policy Project took sustainability concerns into its own hands, researching topics such as air quality, carbon footprints and water quality. Beyond the months of research, the interns wrote more than 20 letters to legislators, aiming to be influential in Indiana's environmental policy.

"I definitely think that with our combined efforts and the fact that senators take us seriously we make a difference," said junior policy intern Keelin Kelly.

Following Kelly, junior policy intern Jay Wellik addressed the effect of Indiana's coal usage on the environment. Wellik said that based on Indiana's use of coal, the state, if considered a country, would be among the top 30 nations with the greatest amount of carbon emissions. Since Hoosiers derive about 95 percent of their energy from coal, Wellik said DEPP looked at legislature that could fix Indiana's heavy reliance on coal.

One of the areas of interest that DEPP researched was The Climate Registry, a non-profit organization that tracks a state's carbon dioxide emissions and how they affect energy use. Indiana is not currently included in the 39 states that are members of The Climate Registry.

To counter the negative effects of Indiana's coal use, sophomore policy intern Kate Wright discussed green buildings in the state. Accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council, green buildings are awarded points based on sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality, according to the USGBC Web site.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings are labeled LEED certified, silver, gold or platinum, the latter being the highest. Indiana has one LEED platinum-certified building, Rieth Village, located at Goshen College. Rieth Village is the only building with a higher LEED certification in the state than DePauw's own Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, a LEED gold.

"It was inspiring for us to be at such an environmentally friendly building while researching environmental policy," Wright said.

Wright and Baratta researched other green buildings to prepare for discussion with Indiana state legislators. While at the state house, Wright said they found the senator who "pretty much killed" the bill for green buildings.

"She got to see how tenacious DePauw students can be," she said, "and even [when] we might not be successful we don't give up."

Sophomore policy intern Andrew Maddocks, who is also in-depth news editor for The DePauw, touched on a topic that encompasses the environmental hazards of a rural state like Indiana - confined feeding operations and concentrated animal feeding operations, or manure storage. Maddocks defined four major issues with CAFOs, including hazards to public health, the environment, animal welfare and rural America.

While CFOs and CAFOs can be a lot of environmental information to digest, Maddocks said the precise topic was an advantage for the policy project.

"They couldn't ignore us if we found something specific to study," he said.

Sophomore sustainability intern Taylor Cantril concluded the presentation by giving the audience information about DEPP's upcoming events and Winter Term before proceeding to a question and answer session. The conclusion of the evening was a call to the community to raise awareness of the issues.

"There seems to be a lack of common-sense education of how we affect our ecologies around us," Cantril said.