Project funded by The Green Initiative Fund should set precedent for future sustainability efforts

The Green Initiative Fund, a student referendum that passed three to one in the 2008 Undergraduate Student Election, finally allocated its funds to a project that will improve UCLA’s image as a sustainability leader.

This editorial board is pleased that the funds are finally being utilized for an appropriately sized project ““ the construction of solar panels on the rooftop of Ackerman Union ““ with a size and scope made possible by the funds raised.

TGIF has allocated $176,000 to the Be Green Committee, a subcommittee within Bruin Democrats, to construct the panels at the end of the summer. The referendum raises $200,000 each year, and the solar-panel project was chosen after reviewing 40 students’ proposals on how best to spend the funds.

This board is glad UCLA chose to use the funds for a large-scale project that can potentially provide tangible results. Since TGIF passed in 2008, some of the money was allocated for smaller projects, such as reusable water bottles during Dance Marathon. However, this board remains unconvinced that using the resources for such projects will create any impact on a large university.

Distributing relatively small amounts of money among several organizations will yield fewer benefits to our campus as a whole over time.

In contrast, the current project is symbolic: It presents UCLA as an institution at the forefront of alternative energy efforts as we enter an era that will ask us to find sustainable sources of energy, with solar on the forefront.

Constructing solar panels capitalizes on UCLA’s ideal location in a region which receives ample sunlight to fuel the panels year-round. According to proponents of the project, the panels will save about $1.5 million over 25 years and will accrue enough money to cover its own maintenance.

This board also asks that the funds be used in a more direct and expedited fashion in the future. Because of the huge breadth of sustainability projects that could have been chosen, it took over two years to determine which project TGIF would pursue.

We must build on our progress in sustainability, such as by using these funds for solar energy, by continuing to focus on campus energy needs with the $4 each student pays in the future.

Finally, this board implores those in charge of The Green Initiative Fund to better publicize its call for project submissions. The talent and enthusiasm for creating environmental projects needs to be harnessed, and we should continue to motivate each other to find tangible solutions to our sustainability issues.

TGIF has settled on one great use of funds for our campus; now, let’s see if they begin construction on time.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board.