Petition wants to bring solar panels to campus

By Pablo Villaseñor, CONTRIBUTOR


California State University, East Bay’s Associated Students Incorporated Sustainability Chair Zachary Meade has put out a petition to call upon the university to follow through with the commitments laid out in the Climate Action Plan. The petition calls to install more solar panels for the University as outlined in the plan. So far, the petition has an estimated 150 signatures from CSUEB students.
The Climate Action plan would increase our solar input and decrease our reliance on fossil fuels for energy consumption.
“The petition was meant to build political support and salience among students. Solar panels will lower energy costs on campus and help us reduce our carbon emissions from energy use as well,” said Meade.
In honor of Earth Day, the Office of Sustainability at CSUEB teamed up with ASI to host “Earth Week” from April 22-27. The week-long celebration of campus events consisted of workshops, volunteering, giveaways, a farmers market, and festival that informed students on ways to live more sustainably.
Meade saw Earth Week as the perfect opportunity to gather a number of people large enough to make an impact on his petition to build more solar panels on campus.
“I believe that every week should have a campaign of some kind that helps students get involved with sustainability on our campus. This was the idea for this year and I hope that next year will be even more impactful,” Meade said.
There is no minimum amount of signatures that are required because the petition is not a ballot initiative-style campaign. It’s only meant to push CSUEB administration and President Morishita to make a change based on student opinions.
Environmental conservation has gained more awareness over the last few years and CSUEB students now have a chance to put that awareness into action.