This morning I learned about an initiative currently going on at UCSB regarding renewable energy. Two thoughts immediately came to mind when hearing this: will students approve an increase in fees with the current financial fiasco the UC is going through, and will the program provide effective measures to bring the campus closer to zero net energy?

The first green fee ever put forth in the UC system happened back in 2006, and was called The Green Initiative Fund. Students voted in a fee increase to their tuition to help pay for efforts to reduce their educational footprint on the environment. This initiative continues in that vein and will mostly pay for large-scale photovoltaic arrays around the campus and ensure the highest possible LEED certification of most of the Student Affairs' buildings. The reason I ask if people will accept higher fees is due to the recent substantial increase to student tuition costs within the UC system. The cost to attend UCSB in particular has risen 30% since I finished school last year. This program looks to tack on a $6 fee per quarter for every student over 10 years. I feel that the students will accept a change like this as they have been more active in the environmental front these past few years. It would at the very least serve as a symbol to the rest of the UC and college community that Santa Barbara is getting serious towards their energy use.

Right now the UC Extension website has open enrollment for Winter Quarter 2010. A particular highlight is a course being offered on energy and its future within the State of California. It continues the Environmental Studies x489 series, which began this past fall quarter with a course on sustainability and green building concepts. It was headed by Lindsey Taggart, an energy specialist with the Community Environmental Council (CEC), and I had the pleasure of taking it. This new course covers a broad range of topics related to both energy and energy consumption and is held on the UCSB campus.

I wanted to say a little bit about the course that recently finished and why I recommend this next class. The lecture presentations are general in order to provide an overview with students. Through site visits and guest speakers the topics covered in class are explored in more depth. This past quarter was concerned with green building and specifically the LEED rating system. However there were one to two guest speakers a week that spoke on a variety of topics: building, waste management, sustainable sites, water efficiency, and green materials to name a few. It was this speaker series that really made the class worth it to me, not to mention the group project I was assigned which got me into contact with an interior designer, environmental scientist, and fellow UCSB student. That's another aspect of the class I like, in that individuals from a variety of fields took the course to learn and engage in positive discussion.