Greenwashing at Our Public Schools - Call to Action!

It would be interesting to know whether most readers believe that enough is being done for the environment by our government, corporations and individuals?

Although in previous posts I have criticized government interference in commerce with the perceived intention of helping the environment, e.g. the inefficient production of "green energy" ethanol which mostly benefits large agricultural concerns, nevertheless I still believe that government must do its part through responsible stewardship of the resources it does consume.

For example, I went out to play with my daughter in her school's playground on a chilly early April day after school when I heard noise emanating from the roof of the building. I noticed that the chiller was left running after-hours. (It was a containerized air-handling system, so I can't be sure, but it sounded like a compressor running leading me to believe that the chiller was on.)

In any case, many parents and pupil complain that the air temperature from classroom to classroom varies so widely, that sometimes children in one classroom have to wear thick sweaters on a hot, late-Spring day, while others in a different wing are perspiring from the heat and humidity.

Not only is this wasteful, but it is unhealthy for the children!

Teachers try to solve the problem by running space heaters in one classroom while the entire school is being air conditioned.

Another example was on a warm Sunday when I decided to practice my tennis ground strokes against the large gymnasium wall on the outside of the same school. Although there were a few children in the playground playing basketball not far from me, all of the school parking spaces were entirely empty, as to be expected on a Sunday afternoon.

So why was the air conditioner running, keeping the school cooled at the taxpayers' expense for nobody at all?

Again, this is a waste of energy and taxpayer money.

Who is keeping track of this and who is responsible? Unfortunately, as anyone who has contacted their local school about such issues knows, nobody local cares or if they do care, they cannot do anything about it because "those decisions are made by department x over at government building y by z. If you can reach that person, after getting bounced around between departments for a while, you are most likely told that there is no way of monitoring that from over there. Nobody local has the authority, and the distant authorities are eternally not aware of the problem or are constantly "looking into it."

How does one get people motivated to fix the gaping money sinkholes at our schools? Another Howard County school (names will be left out of this blog in order to protect the guilty) had maintenance problems and even rodent infestations which were not being handled until the issue reached the newspapers.

It's interesting how we can be so powerless to affect change in our democracy. Yet, we have to pay the taxes for these less than acceptable services. Sometimes it feels like "taxation without representation."

Luckily, the USA has the best method of creating a revolution - peacefully at the ballot box, and I think the current Howard County administration has been working hard to improve things.

Most impressive is how Howard County Executive Kenneth Ulman has created an "Office of Sustainability" under Director Joshua Feldmark, which is being replicated in other Maryland counties. I was fortunate to be able to observe one of their meetings as a guest, fascinated by the amount of issues on a wide range of topics they were endeavoring to tackle, as the meeting continued until almost 10:00 P.M. (You can stop complaining that government doesn't work for you - they called to continue the meeting at 7:00 AM over coffee.)

While they are working on matters such as Baltimore Gas & Electric's unilateral decision to clear-cut trees through public land in Columbia's Owen Brown Village, or the impending insufficiency of the sewer system to handle the expected growth in Columbia, I hope they also have the time to look into the school system. There are plenty of opportunities to save energy there, e.g.:

1) The heating and cooling systems should be optimized and shut down when unused,
2) Lights do not have to burn at 100% intensity at night,
3) Unused computers in the computer labs should be hibernating when not used,
4) Plus many other smaller items like, hibernating vending machines at night, using motion-sensing lighting in auxiliary classrooms, etc.

These are inexpensive fixes which offer the quickest payback time. The schools do not need to implement expensive projects like solar energy, etc.

I have confidence that there are those in government who can still turn things around. Let's support them in their efforts - get involved with your local governments, observe, write to the newspapers, write to the politicians, attend a meeting, organize an advocacy group, and complain when you see problems!

Democracy's worst enemy is indifference.