University announces 2016 coal phase-out, cites environmental impact

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Moving coal at Michigan State University's T.B. Simon Power Plant.

Moving coal at Michigan State University’s T.B. Simon Power Plant.

By Brian Bienkowski

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University president Lou Anna K. Simon announced Wednesday that the school intends to stop burning coal by the end of 2016.

“Sustainability is one of our guiding institutional principles,” Simon said via a webcast about MSU’s energy future. “This represents a great opportunity for MSU to further reduce its environmental impact.”

Lou Anna K. SimonSimon said a majority of coal buying and burning would end in 2015, largely by transitioning more to natural gas.  The T.B. Simon Power Plant looms over south campus, pumping emissions. The plant burns coal, natural gas and biomass for heat and electricity. Three of the plant’s four boilers are already burning natural gas.

“Transitioning to natural gas as our sole fuel source gives us a cleaner, stable power supply moving forward,” said Robert Ellerhorst, director of utilities at the plant, chief power source for the 5,200-acre campus.

The announcement isn’t just a green push: University officials said that it would cost less to convert the fourth boiler to natural gas than it would to invest in upgrades to meet new EPA emissions rules.

MSU has a goal of 100 percent renewable energy but hasn’t given a timeframe for when that will happen.

Andy McGlashen, communications director at the Michigan Environmental Council, said this is a “big step forward for MSU.”

“We applaud Michigan State for leaving dirty coal behind, and look forward to watching the university’s continued progress toward its stated goal of 100 percent renewable energy,” he said.

‘Not the best solution’

Not everyone was thrilled with the news.

“While MSU’s plan to stop burning coal is a huge step in the right direction, switching to natural gas is not the best solution,” said Courtney Bourgoin, an MSU student in a statement to Clean Energy Now. “We plan to continue pushing for cleaner, safer renewable energy, like wind and solar, in an effort to reduce our university’s carbon footprint and increase students’ say in energy transition decisions.”

Universities worldwide are coming under the gun to reduce reliance on and investments in fossil fuels. Stanford University, Syracuse University and Glasgow University have all committed to divest from fossil fuels.

This week the Academics Stand Against Poverty — a group of about 2,000 researchers who study poverty and development — called on universities all over the world to divest from fossil fuels.

“What does it mean for universities to seek to educate youth and produce leading research in order to better the future, while simultaneously investing in and profiting from the destruction of said future?  This position is neither tenable nor ethical,” the group said in its statement.

Editor’s note: Brian Bienkowski is a reporter for The Daily Climate where this story first appeared. Bienkowski and Andy McGlashen, who is quoted in this story, are both former reporters at Great Lakes Echo. Echo is based at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism. This story is republished under a creative commons attribution-share alike license.

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