A group of environmental advocates exchanged ideas with students about global warming Wednesday at Ingraham Hall.
State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, Bruce Speight of Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group and Dan Kohler from Wisconsin Environment gave a variety of ideas to fight against global warming.
Speight emphasized the importance of public transportation systems.
""We need to invest more in public transportation,"" he said. ""Nationally in 2006, our transit system saved 3.4 billion gallons of oil. That's equivalent to $9 billion the consumers would have otherwise spent driving.""
Speight also mentioned several projects, such as the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.
The rail initiative would attempt to connect major cities throughout nine Midwest states, including Wisconsin. It would also provide an alternative to using cars for traveling between cities.
The panel also discussed new methods of generating electricity from clean energy sources, such as wind.
When asked about the feasibility of wind energy, Black said discontinuing coal plants is a good first step.
""I think that wind turbines, if properly sited, are a good way of producing power,"" he said. ""They are clean and they are competitive with other energies.""
According to Speight, 13 percent of bridges and 10 percent of the roads in Wisconsin are structurally deficient. Repairing and maintaining these existing structures would create 16 percent more jobs than building new roads and bridges.
""Put this in an analogy: you are not going to build a new house if your roof is leaking,"" he said.
Scott Thompson, the coordinator of Big Red, Go Green, advocated lobbying for clean energy in the face of environmentally unfriendly corporations.
""Even though the Exxon Mobils of the world are standing against us, this is really a global issue that we need to deal with right now.""
