Category Archives: SAVE

Massive vote for SAVE’s fossil fuel divestment by VSU Student Government Association



When

at first they didn’t succeed, SAVE tried again and won.
Next: VSU Foundation again. -jsq


RESOLUTION #14432

Support of S.AV.E. Fossil Free Divestment Campaign

Date: March 4, 2014

Authored by:

Senator Candicee Childs, Freshman Senator, Public Relations Chairman & Student Representative of

Faculty Senate Environmental Issues Committee

Senator Tamera Dunn, Graduate Senator



Be it enacted by the Senate of Valdosta State University (VSU) here
assembled, that:

WHEREAS, the Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.)
organization has presented

a divestment campaign for the VSU
Foundation to the Student Government Association

in October 2013,
resulting in the request for additional clarity and information to
be gathered regarding their campaign, and

WHEREAS, the SAVE organization has obtained support from

the Faculty Senate Environmental Issues Committee
for
their divestment campaign
for

the VSU Foundation in November 2013, and

WHEREAS, the SAVE organization has also obtained unanimous support Continue reading →

Humans are the cause, and it’s time for people to become the solution –Danielle Jordan for SAVE



LTE in the VSU newspaper, The Spectator, today. -jsq

To the Editor,

Climate change is the defining issue of our time.

Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that
humans are the cause. S.A.V.E.
believes that it’s time for people to become the solution.
Globally,
we are feeling the impacts of record-setting temperatures, most
notably in the extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels.


Recent

chemical (W.VA) and

coal ash spills (N.C.) add to the urgency
of moving beyond fossil fuel. Yet here on our campus there’s a
remarkable disconnect between the classroom and the board room.
Shockingly, the VSU Board of Trustees includes science deniers,
oblivious to the threat of climate change—and to the academic
integrity of this institution of higher learning.



Recently,

the Board dismissed S.A.V.E.’s

request that VSU rid its portfolio of fossil fuel holdings.
Board Chairman,
Wayne Edwards,

a financial analyst, cast doubt on



the study that accompanied our request.
But we ask you, who knows more about climate, a team of
2,000 scientists from 154 countries who have compiled data from more
than 9,000 studies, or a stock broker? Our point is that serious
decisions at this institution are being taken by people who lack the
proper credentials.

Chairman Edwards

dismissed socially responsible investing as Continue reading →

SAVE to dine with VSU Foundation Monday



The VSU Foundation has invited SAVE to dinner Monday.
No agenda is known, but the Foundation gets four attendees
and SAVE gets two.

Foundation attendees are to be:

The two attendees from

Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.),
each apparently twice as heavyweight as a Foundation Trustee,
will be: Continue reading →

SAVE has a new website

Reminding everyone of what they do and
what VSU President McKinney said,
Students Against Violating the Environment
has

a new website.


S.A.V.E. is an environmental activist organization based on the
campus of Valdosta State University (VSU). It is composed of
students from all majors, and any VSU student is welcome to join
regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.



The mission of the organization is Continue reading →

Frack Off Spectra, We Want Solar @ LCC 2013-12-09

Some citizens spoke up before the

Lowndes County Commission meeting, even if the Commission didn’t want to hear from them during.


 Continue reading →

Videos: Solar Canopy Ceremony @ SAVE 2013-11-15



VSU’s president turns out to be a professor of environmental ethics,
as he reminded us at the

VSU Solar Canopy Ceremony 15 November 2013.

Here’s
a video playlist:

Continue reading →

I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus –VSU President McKinney @ SAVE 2013-11-15



At

installation of VSU’s solar canopy,
the president of VSU answered

SAVE’s question:



You’ve heard about how these kinds of projects
can yield a relatively quick return on investment.
And you all need to know that, so long as I am president,
I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus.
I do not believe for a moment that environmental sustainability
and the long-term economic well-being of the university are
contradictory goals.

He offered an

autobiographical tidbit:



I began my career in academia… as

a professor of environmental ethics.
I didn’t leave that behind when moved into the role I’m in now.
I still hold dear to that kind of thinking.
I still hold dear that kind of open dialog.
And I remain committed to these kinds of projects.
The sun is something we have in abundance here.
And I think it is something we can continue to take advantage of.

Now I will take a little bit of credit.
I remember probably the most opposite of the day we have today.
Back over the summer, and early in the morning, and it was already
extremely hot, and we were walking around trying to decide
where we were going to put the array, and we looked a couple of spots,
and then we came back here.


Smokestack


And the first thing that struck me from an academic perspective
was the juxtaposition of having a solar panel and the old physical plant.
Just from a metaphorical perspective, I just thought that was unique.
But then we started talking about the
fact that we could have shelter, power, for what is in many ways
an academic hub of the university, the library.
And generate some power in the process.



And be able to have not only the event that we have today,
but I would hope other kinds of events, because
I really do see this as a starting point.

He thanked everybody involved, especially SAVE
and

its president Danielle Jordan for her leadership,
and in absentia plant operations.

Continue reading →

Making this a green campus –Dr. Michael G. Noll @ SAVE 2013-11-15



Dr. Noll remarked on the rain falling and said of the solar canopy:

It’s multipurpose, it provides shade, it provides shelter,
and it provides renewable energy, so that makes it really awesome.



He offered as story about events and world population at those times:

  • 1 billion in 1783: the first hot air balloon in 1783 in Paris, France
  • 2 billion in 1903: Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first flight



  • 1969: Apollo 11 landed on the moon when Dr. Noll was 8 years old

  • 1973: Oil crisis
  • 4 billion in 1977: Jimmy Carter installed first solar panels on White House
  • 1981: Ronald Reagan took down those solar panels

  • 7 billion now: Accelerating climate change



He said we’re entering a second solar age,
the first one being the fossilized solar power of fossil fuels.
He mentioned the solar powered long flights of the

Solar Impulse
airplane as an example of hope, and an example of accelerating change.

Then you know what we are capable of, what we can do.

He concluded: Continue reading →

Anytime we use coal or natural gas we are linked to fracking and of course climate change –Danielle Jordan @ SAVE 2013-11-15

After repeating

SAVE’s request for VSU to
reinvest in more socially responsible options,
Danielle Jordan, President of SAVE, gave one reason why
SAVE supports fossil fuel divestment:


Our actions don't stop here --Danielle Jordan

In our fiscally globalized world, our actions don’t stop here.
Everything we do affects people half a world away.
So anytime we use coal or natural gas we are linked to fracking
and of course climate change.
But that doesn’t have to be.
We can change that.
This proves it.


Crowd

Half a world --with Dr. McKinney

This was at the

Solar Canopy Ceremony 15 November 2013. Continue reading →