Kentuckians to Raise Mock Wind Turbine on “Fossil Fools Day”

Contact: Dave Cooper 859 299 5669

When: Tuesday April 1 12:00 Noon

Where: UK's Coal Pile on South Upper Street, between South Hill Station

and the UK Taylor Education Building - go around back of coal pile for

photo op

Who: Members of UK Green Thumb student group, BCTC students and

concerned Lexingtonians

As scientific studies about the real and present dangers of climate

change continue to mount, glaciers and polar ice caps melt, and drought

threatens major cities like Atlanta and Charlotte, it has become clear

to the residents of Lexington and the students at the University of

Kentucky and BCTC that only a fool would continue to burn fossil fuels

like coal.

We are raising a mock wind turbine at the University of Kentucky's coal

pile on S. Upper Street (just past South Hill Station) to bring

attention to the University of Kentucky's use of coal and their lack of

leadership on energy and conservation issues.

Not only does the University of Kentucky buy coal mined from

mountaintop removal mines, such as the Diamond May surface mine in

Knott County, Kentucky, directly above the Carr Fork State Park

campground, but UK has also fallen far behind other Kentucky institutes

of higher learning, such as Eastern Kentucky University, Centre

College, and Berea College.

On Tuesday, March 4, EKU announced a 12 year partnership with Siemens

Building Technologies that includes $22 million in energy efficiency

improveents on campus.  Berea College has an eco-village for student

housing and has long been a leader on energy issues.  Centre College

has many major projects to improve campus energy efficiency - including

worm composting for dining hall food waste.

Meanwhile, UK has dormitories and classrooms that are so poorly

climate-controlled and sometimes so overheated that students have to

open windows in the winter.  UK turns on stadium lights for afternoon

football games.  The air conditioning in Young Library is so cold that

it is better suited for penguins than students, wasting thousands of

dollars that could be used to implement energy efficiency upgrades.

It is time for the UK Board of Trustees and President Lee Todd to show

active leadership and true financial support on climate change and

energy efficiency issues.  It is time for UK to stop buying coal from

mountaintop removal mines.

We believe that no new buildings should be built on UK's campus unless

they are LEED certified, designating high energy efficiency standards.

We want room occupancy sensors installed in all classrooms, to

automatically turn off lights when the room is empty.  Computers should

be set to hibernate when not in use.  And much more attention needs to

be directed at drafty windows and doors that don't seal properly.

These inefficient buildings are costing UK thousands and possibly

millions of dollars and should be considered as "low hanging fruit"

before considering student tuition increases.