February 7, 2008
Schmautz wrong on University’s greenhouse gas emissions
Dear Editor,
As a former intern under the ASUM Sustainability Office, I am disturbed by the misunderstanding shown in Emma Schmautz’s editorial in Wednesday’s Kaimin. Her article was riddled with errors and fallacies about the environment, the economy, and what UM is doing to reduce our climate impact.
She begins her article by stating that “greenbacks are not a renewable resource.” This is untrue, as money is possibly the most renewable of all resources. When the University acts in ways that prove good for the Montana economy, the money gets recycled, and the entire state stands to profit, including the University. Where environmental action is in conjunction with a student learning and a healthy economy, the action is triply justified. Moving the state away from carbon dependence will be good for our economy, our environment, and yes, even our education. Schmautz states that UM’s emissions “make no difference to the global climate,” which is false, because they do make a difference. UM needlessly emits thousands of tons of greenhouse gasses every year – why shouldn’t we act to reduce this? What better way to lead than by example, finding the way for the rest of the state to follow suit? I learned a lot working on UM’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory, my involvement in the project cost the University almost nothing, and I got to help the University reduce its carbon footprint. If that doesn’t align with “quality education and affordable tuition,” I don’t know what does.
Sincerely,
Jonathan S. Orndoff
Senior, Resource Conservation & Environmental Studies
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Comments
Emma Schmautz is a liberal. Liberals have abandoned the sacred law of ‘objectivity’ in American media. Therefore, I would seriously doubt you’re going to find much in the way of verifiable facts when reading work written by Schmautz.
Posted by Daniel Shevlin on 02/10/2008 at 3:50 pm
RE: Daniel Shevlin’s comment.
???!!!?!?!?????????
Posted by Fred Stapleton on 02/15/2008 at 4:56 am
