LETTER: It's time for MU to lessen its use of coal

Sept. 29 was the National Day of Action to expose the adverse effects of coal.  Students of MU walked around campus, gathering photo petitions to send to the EPA to display their objection to the use of coal as a power source.  I am glad to say that 210 petitions were created.

With the dedication of the MU students, it should come as no surprise that we were able to produce such a strong effort on this National Day of Action.  However, MU still gets 80 percent of its energy from coal.

Any way you look at it, coal is destructive to the environment.  It is an incredibly dirty and polluting source of energy.  And according to the World Coal Institute, the use of coal will increase by 60 percent in the next 20 years.  This means that we will be depleting the Earth’s source of coal at an even more rapid pace than presently and creating a dirtier atmosphere.

It is possible to lessen our dependence on coal.  We can cut down on energy needs by employing conservation and energy efficiency plans.  Conservation is becoming the core of many clubs on campus and has grabbed the attention of many administrators.  By bringing conservation to the forefront of concerns around campus, MU is taking the first vital step in creating a university that is not as reliant on coal.

 Kyle Matthias is a student at MU.