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OPINION & EDITORIAL

Taking ‘green’ to new heights

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Also by Gerald Cox:

Unifying candidate or bigoted clown? (January 28, 2008)
'Oprabama?' No thank you (December 10, 2007)
I'll take a female president, just not her (December 3, 2007)
Religion aside, faith perseveres (November 26, 2007)
Want Big Ten sports? Get a dish (November 19, 2007)

by Gerald Cox

Sunday, February 3, 2008

We all know Madison is a blue city, but if Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has his way, it will also be decidedly green.

The mayor spoke to his determination to make Madison one of the greenest cities in America at the University of Wisconsin’s Focus the Nation teach-in. Mayor Dave espoused a vision of Madison becoming a Midwestern, nay, national leader in green cities. Well, Mayor Dave, I, and a majority of my fellow students, am with you. But, as I am sure you are aware, it’s going to take a lot more than LED light bulbs and even a fleet of hybrid buses to make Madison an exemplar of sustainable urban landscapes.

By now, students have had ample opportunity to take advantage of one of the city’s more obvious efforts to paint the city of Madison a more sustainable shade of green: its modest but growing fleet of hybrid buses. What young Badger hasn’t utilized his or her bus pass to get from one part of campus to another, only to be pleasantly surprised to find that he or she is a passenger aboard one of Madison’s four hybrid buses? Ah, sustainability.

Once the excitement of riding one of Madison’s hybrids fades, look fondly upon the traffic lights that govern said hybrids’ trips through the one way streets of downtown Madison, for they too are another attempt at making Madison green. As Mr. Cieslewicz revealed during his talk at Focus the Nation, Madison’s red and green traffic lights are now all LED lights — which, as The Badger Herald reports, is the “energy equivalent of taking about 450 cars off the road.” Well-played, Madison, well-played.

These and other efforts continue to be part of the solution, and I’ll throw my support behind Mayor Dave on these issues any day. Madison’s current efforts and plans in pursuing a sustainable future is admirable, and, above all, necessary. However, if Madison wants to play in the big leagues of green, Madison has to build green. It needs to ensure that the city’s infrastructure, homes and buildings reflect our greater concern for the sustainability of our environment.

Firstly, the city would do well to change the existing building codes to require any future buildings to meet a set of sustainability-oriented guidelines. Further, tax incentives, rebates and subsidies should be provided to developers who maximize the use of sustainable technology.

The city must also allow for modest rebates for “greenifying” existing buildings and homes. Madison residents must be provided with appropriate incentive to upgrade their homes to be more energy efficient. Specifically, the aforementioned tax cuts must apply to residential projects. Rebates will serve as a powerful tool in encouraging an emergence of green neighborhoods and homes — this includes property tax cuts and rebates for homeowners who install solar panels, or make the effort to upgrade their homes to a greater level of sustainability. The city itself must also make a concerted commitment to increasing its municipal buildings’ energy efficiency.

Furthermore, my fellow Madisonian tenants and I would not mind some sort of monetary incentive for landlords to improve the insulation of the odd apartment, flat, or, for instance, a certain three-story green and brown house located two blocks west of Camp Randall. Wisconsin winters are not kind to poorly insulated houses, and I’m sure my house alone could save the city thousands in natural gas costs were it properly insulated.

The city of Madison must form a partnership with its residents to achieve the lofty goal of making Madison a green capital. The university itself has proven to be a willing and powerful partner, with its recent conservation campaign’s banners donning the wall of prominent campus buildings.

Madison’s residents, however, must feel that the city is willing to make the most effective of partnerships: a financial commitment.

Gerald Cox (gcox@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in economics.

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Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 7:00am):

Citizens don't need an incentive to insulate their houses better and save energy. The problem is that most students aren't willing to pay more for an apartment that they sign a lease for in the summer to save money on heating in the winter. If people weren't so myopic, we'd be just fine. But involving a government handout in an already overtaxed city is bad public policy.

Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 7:09am):

I would think, out of all the liberal towns in the world, Madison would be the greenest. I suppose it's time to practice what we preach.

Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 11:19am):

If the same buildings that have signs posted all over them "We Conserve" etc etc would turn off their lights at night, didn't have the air set so that hoodies are needed in the summer and tank tops in the winter... I think the hypocrisy would at least decrease as I'm sure would energy needs

Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 11:48am):

To 7:00a.m.
The ridiculous prices that students have to pay to live in some what suffient apartments is why some feel that having our living quaters properly insulated should not come as an extra expense to us. Plus if I plan to only live in my current residence for another year or 2 why would I want to money into a place, and then let the property owners gain from it by charging other tenants extra money for the newly updated insulation that they did not put in.

Stephen (February 4, 2008 @ 11:48am):

Take personal action, too. So, let me preach: Buy local and buy organic; eat less meat; turn off your lights when you're not using them; take shorter showers; bike, walk, and take the bus as much as possible; reuse, reduce, and recycle.
These seemingly small efforts, combined, can make a big difference if we want to create a sustainable future.

Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 4:59pm):

11:48,

You completely misinterpreted what I said (7:00). What I was saying is that students should be willing to pay slightly higher rent if that is offset by lower electric bills during the winter. I'm not saying that you put the insulation in yourself, as that's quite possibly against your lease.

And I'm sorry that you have to pay ridiculous (i.e. 'market' prices) to live so close to campus. Come a little farther out from campus (even Sheboygan) and you can save a lot of money at the expense of a cruddier social life.

Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 6:19pm):

High rent is caused by the amazing about of disrespect given to properties in the area. Vandalism, theft, broken elevators, littering, etc, it all costs money.

As for conservation, it's all about market incentives.

Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 11:53pm):

Cox, you did almost no research for this one. At least citing WE CONSERVE would've done you some good.

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