The Green Fee: Wise or Wasteful?

Andrea Castillo

Pat yourselves on the back and create a fan page on Facebook; your student government is about to save the planet. There has been raucous debate that spans from community discourse all the way to an international summit in Copenhagen concerning the health of our planet and humanity's role and degree in contributing to its harm. But don’t worry, FSU SGA has all the answers and is here to save the day. They have proposed a new “Green Fee” which will help promote sustainability on campus.

The best news? SGA’s proposal will only cost you 50 cents more per credit hour. That is, of course, after the $9.97 per credit hour Activities and Service Fee, the recently-established $2 per credit hour increase to help fund the fancy new health center that probably won't be built until after you graduate, the $6.77 per credit hour Athletic fee that helps fund the various gym and sports complexes that you may or may not actually use, and the $7.40 per credit hour Transportation fee to help subsidize the bus fare for the students that actually ride the bus, among other things. But don’t worry, our wise student representatives see important uses for more of your money—or at least that’s what they want us to believe.

Instead of buying into the green fee, and SGA’s good intentions, we should all question the wisdom in appropriating more fee money for a new cause when SGA already wastes so much money.

If our Student Government is the judge, jury, and executioner of where and when our funds will be spent, the results will be as disastrous as they are unabashedly wasteful. Far from representing the "student body's interest", our representatives appear to be united in their quest to serve their own individual interests with vigor. I implore every reader to make at least one trip to a Senate meeting to see firsthand the problem about which I speak – they meet every Wednesday at 7PM in the 3rd floor of the Union (look for the room with the big comfortable-looking leather chairs, you can't miss it). How can we expect a body, like our Student Senate, that accepts a weekly bribe from Aramark Food Services (a generous buffet complete with chicken strips, gourmet cookies and punch) and celebrates itself with SGA Senate Appreciation Day, to know the first thing about conservation of anything? If people in student government desire sustainability, perhaps they should work with the money they already have, cut some perks, trips and budgets, and get serious about the plight of the average student.

Few people will object to the stated goals of green initiatives; we all live on the same planet and benefit from not having to worry about being pelted by acid rain every time we step outside. On a more specific level, even fewer people would probably object to the Florida State University campus taking positive cost-conscious steps towards improving our campus's efficiency while identifying and eliminating potential sources of waste.

The easiest and most effective way that FSU can decrease the size of our carbon footprint would also alleviate the strains of the state-wide education budget cuts: hire an outside professional auditing agency to review FSU's budget and identify sources of waste and redundancy. The money that the school would save could then be channeled towards investments in green technology that would save the school money on energy costs. Just because something is called "green" does not necessarily mean it is a positive good for all parties involved; professionals should be consulted to pinpoint which specific devices would promote sustainability and be economically beneficial for our campus. This solution would put a stop to current waste while allowing for investment in environmentally-conscious technology, and it wouldn't cost you or I one cent more than what we are currently paying.

Though the proponents of this green fee may lead you to believe otherwise, their stated objectives towards environmental harmony are far from pure and selfless. On the contrary, if our student leaders and the real-life politicians that are supporting them were really genuine about environmental protection, their plans would not involve self-serving student body politics and opportunities to put your name on a new solar panel installation. Ultimately, I implore all students to scrutinize any platform or stated goal of any politician; be it Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner on the national level or the kid who sits next to you in Biology class on the campus level. Any idiot can promise you "green initiatives" and "job creation" but it is doubtful that such initiatives will provide worthwhile solutions to real life problems.