By Hannah Lundquist —
Seize the Grid is a national campaign through the Sierra Club, whose goal is to stop using nonrenewable energy as a prime source. The Sierra Club, along with over 30 other campuses, are choosing to focus on using renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and water. Their primary goal is to get campuses across the United States to transition to renewable resources by 2030.
Oct. 14 was National Day of Action. Many Stout students in the Seize the Grid campaign spent a few hours outside creating fun chalk drawings that represented their cause.
Laura Donovan, leader of the movement on campus, has been very involved in this campaign by trying to get other UW schools involved. So far she has made contact with UW–River Falls, Madison and Steven’s Point. These schools have either signed on with the movement or are strongly considering it.
The number one problem right now is that the UW System is a part of the state, meaning state rules must be followed. Wisconsin chooses to burn coal for all of its facilities, so not only does the Seize the Grid movement have to convince the school, but they also have to convince the state of Wisconsin. This is why Donovan is trying so hard to get other UW schools to sign on for the campaign.
Right now, Seize the Grid has not been in contact with Stout administration; however the plan is to take the issue to them very soon.
The only way to bring change is to bring light to the issue. Stout has created a Facebook page for Seize the Grid where visitors can get involved. You can sign the petition and ‘Like’ the page. So far the page has garnered over 200 signatures on the petition.
Donovan would like students on campus to know how much their signature can mean. Every vote counts in this campaign.
For more information, visit UW–Stout Seize the Grid’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/uwstoutSTG
