This afternoon, leaders from environmental awareness and sustainability club Eco-Action will meet with President Graham Spanier and other university officials to discuss Penn State’s transition from coal-based energy to more sustainable sources.

An Eco-Action event two weeks ago led to the meeting. On October 11, over 60 students and community members participated in a march from Penn State’s coal plant to Old Main where club leaders delivered a hand-written letter to Spanier.

According to Eco-Action’s Greenpeace Representative Braden Crooks, University energy goals for carbon emissions are set to expire in 2012. One alternative proposed by administrators is natural gas.

“We need to think about the future,” said Crooks. “We are hoping to switch to a compromise between renewable sources and natural gas.”

Crooks also noted that while University officials are working towards sustainability, there is still more that could be done. Eco-Action hopes that this meeting will help foster a relationship between students and administrators in regards to campus sustainability as one of the club’s concerns is that there is little student involvement in the planning process.

What would you like to see come out of this meeting?