2008 Woodie Awards
Initiative 937: Vote for global warming help
Rachel Carr, Staff Writer
Issue date: 10/24/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
With the mid-term elections only a few weeks away, voters, especially Whitworth students, should be informing themselves about the different candidates and measures that they will be deciding upon.
One measure that should be focused on is state-wide Initiative 937, which would set targets for energy conservation and use of renewable energy resources for electric utilities with 25,000 or more customers. If companies did not reach certain targets in the amount of time given, they would have to pay penalties. Addressing energy conservation, a company would be responsible to identify its goals for the "reduction in electric power consumption resulting from increases in the efficiency of energy use, production or distribution." As to renewable resources, a company would have to meet specific percentage target in a certain amount of time. By 2020, a company would have to have 15 percent of its power coming from renewable resources.
This is an extremely important bill that I urge every citizen of Washington to vote for. Our world is becoming more polluted every day and the alternative of renewable, clean energy like solar and wind power is far superior to burning an increasing amount of fossil fuels. Organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington Public Utility District Association and Physicians for Social Responsibility are officially supporting the measure.
Last week the Political Studies department, with the support of the Murdoch Foundation, showed "An Inconvenient Truth" at the Garland Theatre. I emphatically praise the department for presenting such an importantly educational film.
The first time I saw Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" was in my hometown of Santa Rosa, Calif. - aka hippie-town USA. The packed house was almost completely silent throughout the movie, applauded for what seemed like minutes and sat through the entire ending credits. It was akin to my experience seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the same theatre, except during that movie people actually laughed.
One measure that should be focused on is state-wide Initiative 937, which would set targets for energy conservation and use of renewable energy resources for electric utilities with 25,000 or more customers. If companies did not reach certain targets in the amount of time given, they would have to pay penalties. Addressing energy conservation, a company would be responsible to identify its goals for the "reduction in electric power consumption resulting from increases in the efficiency of energy use, production or distribution." As to renewable resources, a company would have to meet specific percentage target in a certain amount of time. By 2020, a company would have to have 15 percent of its power coming from renewable resources.
This is an extremely important bill that I urge every citizen of Washington to vote for. Our world is becoming more polluted every day and the alternative of renewable, clean energy like solar and wind power is far superior to burning an increasing amount of fossil fuels. Organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington Public Utility District Association and Physicians for Social Responsibility are officially supporting the measure.
Last week the Political Studies department, with the support of the Murdoch Foundation, showed "An Inconvenient Truth" at the Garland Theatre. I emphatically praise the department for presenting such an importantly educational film.
The first time I saw Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" was in my hometown of Santa Rosa, Calif. - aka hippie-town USA. The packed house was almost completely silent throughout the movie, applauded for what seemed like minutes and sat through the entire ending credits. It was akin to my experience seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the same theatre, except during that movie people actually laughed.
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