WKBT La Crosse, WI-NewsChannel 8-UW-L Students Rally Against Coal Burning Plant on Campus

UW-L Students Rally Against Coal Burning Plant on Campus

For years UW-La Crosse has used coal for heating dorms, but that coal has students and even some faculty worried about their own health and the environment.

According to the environmental organization, Sierra Club, the UW-La Crosse coal burning plant does not use the most modern pollution controls and is in violation of the Clean Air Act.

While students and faculty turned out today to rally against coal, the decision to switch isn't up to them.

Switching from burning coal to using cleaner energy is expensive. UW-Madison's is change from coal will cost more than 200 million dollars.

Chancellor Joe Gow says the decision to stop burning coal on UW-L's campus isn't up to the University. "The coal plant is not our building, it's a state facility, so the Department of Administration at the state level would have to decide to make that switch," said Chancellor Gow.

"Coal fired power plants are the leading source of mercury, smog, soot, and global warming pollution in our state," said Ryan Schryver an advocate for Clean Wisconsin.

Environmental advocates say burning coal not only has an effect on the region, but also on students who live very close to this smokestack.

"It increases asthma and causes asthma and other respiratory problems, as well as the sulfur dioxide that's emitted causes cardiovascular problems," said Elizabeth Ward with the UW-La Crosse Environmental Council.

While the plant only burns coal during the winter, students say that's all the more reason to switch.

"It actually only burns 25% of the time which is another reason to get off of it and do natural gas for the time being, then do biomass," said Ward.

The University's Environmental Council says UW-L's coal plant emits more than 13 thousand tons of carbon dioxide each year.

To put that in perspective, Chancellor Gow says the UW-L coal plant burns less than one-percent of all coal that's burned in Wisconsin.

With the state's budget already dealing with deep cuts, Chancellor Gow says it may be awhile before Wisconsin can afford spending the money it would take to burn cleaner energy at UW-La Crosse.