Student Council discussed the creation of a new grassroots committee devoted to student-driven work on environmental sustainability issues in a meeting Wednesday.
The Associated Students of Madison student government currently houses four different grassroots committees, each seeking to advocate for students on a variety of levels, from diversity to state and city policies.
ASM Rep. Collin Higgins proposed legislation Wednesday to create the Sustainability Committee, which he said would interest many students concerned with environmental sustainability.
“The reason it should be created with [segregated] fee money funding it is because I do see it as an issue that encompasses a lot of student life,” Higgins said. “There are a lot of ways that students can get involved.”
According to Higgins, the committee would function similarly to its current counterparts by choosing three campaigns to work on throughout the year, on topics such as food sourcing and renewable energy.
ASM Chair Andrew Bulovsky said some representatives felt the new committee would be addressing issues already being looked at through other campus initiatives.
“There’s some concern over whether it would be overlapping and stepping on the toes of some other offices on campus that already work on sustainability initiatives,” Bulovsky said.
Higgins said while there is the Office of Sustainability, which the new ASM committee would work with, there is not currently an outlet to give students institutionalized decision making power on the issue.
According to Bulovsky, the legislation must receive at least two-thirds votes in two consecutive Student Council meetings for the new committee to be created, with the first vote taking place next week.
