We are experiencing the aftereffects coming from decades of carbon emission, fossil fuel depletion and deforestation.
To curb this trend, cities like Sacramento have taken the initiative to turn green.
And this change is not going unnoticed.
The National Resource Defense Council, an activist group that aims at making our planet sustainable, recognized Sacramento as being the seventh greenest city in the U.S.
We should use this chance, both as a city and a university, to become a major player in the growing green technology industry.
Already, Sacramento State is offering more than 20 classes that teach students how to make the world around them greener, according to the California Smart Grid Center on Sac State's website.
These classes, relating to Smart Grid technology, encourage an environmentally conscious campus.
Our university already is implementing Smart Grid technology in its buildings.
This technology monitors wasteful energy use.
After the meters locate which buildings are wasting energy, system operators can pinpoint what area of the building is causing the waste.
Also, in 2008, Sac State began installing solar panels around the campus in an effort to utilize a renewable source of energy.
Given these changes, it seems like we have a major role in the green movement.
A recent decision from the U.S. Department of Energy can only make our university and city more green.
Our campus, along with SMUD, the state Department of General Services and the Los Rios Community College District, have been given more than $120 million by the department to make our city greener.
This money is going toward the creation of 100 charging stations for electric cars as well as the installation of 600,000 Smart meters in buildings across Sacramento, including Sac State.
This will supplement Smart meters already being put in place at Sac State.
With these improvements, our standing on NRDC's list could rise even further.
But there is one thing we have to do first: participate.
In order for our city to become greener, it will require more than money and government-run projects.
We need this city, including this campus, to make the effort to stop wasting energy and polluting our world.
That means using the recycling bins that are all over our campus, keeping lights off when they are not needed and not running heaters when no one is home.
It means that we have to become more aware of our carbon output and less reliant on our cars.
One city's efforts cannot singlehandedly change global warming.
But one city can be an example for the world.
It just takes one Smart decision at a time.
opinion@statehornet.com
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