The Facts: A student march in Raleigh on March 31 protested the increased prices that would accompany a newly developed monopoly, while also pointing out the flaws in coal energy.
Our Opinion: Because we have such a strong research community devoted to new energy sources, as a University we should invest more in these ideas to create a more sustainable future.
The merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy sparked the need for political action in the N.C. State Environmental Concerns Organization. To spread awareness of the future price increases, which would come with the new formation of the regulated monopoly, the organization marched in downtown Raleigh.
Their main concerns come from Duke Energy’s choice to create cleaner coal to meet new Environmental Protection Agency standards, rather than to investigate alternate forms of energy.
At N.C. State we have majors devoted to researching and developing innovative ways to create new sources of fuel and energy. This merger will not only raise prices, but will stifle the investigation of new forms of energy. Seeing as our University is one of the leading research institutions behind alternative fuel sources, this alliance should raise concern.
Rather than spending more money on equipment to meet these EPA standards, as Duke Energy intends to, we should plan for our future by investing in the research and development of these sources. We should be moving away from coal as a fuel source and look to new ways of powering our society.
While the initial expense is costly, the long-term advantages to the environment and our wallets will be more beneficial. It’s like buying an electric car. Critics argued the battery cells for these automobiles would be too costly for average consumers; however, as the technology has grown, the expense of these cells has decreased.
The same concept could be used for energy sources. If we hope to move away from our dependency on oil and coal, a change must be made. As a research institution, we have the ability to create the way of the future and innovate it away from the norms of fuel sources.
While companies like Duke and Progress Energy should invest in institutions like N.C. State, we must invest more time and resources to developing these technologies so we can perpetuate our mission of sustainability and stewardship.
The financial issues in investing in this type of research, especially in a recession, are always the downfall to these arguments; however, the potential impact we could have on our future as a nation and as global citizens is great. We should look ahead and make the proper investments to aid in the elimination of our environmentally unfriendly fuel source.
