It’s 8 a.m., and Eric Favreau glides silently into a chair. He smiles when I thank him for agreeing to meet me, and softly speaks a few polite words. He speaks them slowly, without rushing a single syllable, and then quickly falls quiet again, giving the impression that he hadn’t spoken at all.
I think for a moment that I’ve met him too early in the morning.
We converse a while longer about trivial affairs in a relaxed, easy manner before the conversation shifts to wind turbines; to green energy and the university; to the environment.
It is here that Eric Favreau, member of the Maine Student Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), swells with conviction and purpose.
“Imagine for a moment,” he erupts in his own composed way, “all the oil reserves, all the fields in the whole world, and imagine what that looks like. Okay? Now, the sun brings to the earth the energy equivalent of all the oil reserves in seven days.”
It is here that the 19-year-old sophomore comes alive.
Favreau cites the warning of scientists that in order to stop or reverse global warming, the world must its cut carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050.
“It’s a major public issue,” he says, and then leans back, staring intently at perhaps the enormity of his statement before shifting his gaze to the orange sun slicing through the windows.
In order to accomplish this, PIRG has taken up the Campus Climate Challenge, an international student campaign to stop global warming, as well as the President’s Climate Commitment, an effort by college presidents from around the nation to reduce their greenhouse gas consumption.
They are resolved to convert the entire University of Maine system to more sustainable power – specifically wind power.
“We are creating solutions to the commitment of our university presidents,” says Favreau.
The idea is to make the entire school system carbon neutral, reducing its carbon emissions to zero.
The Campus Climate Challenge is comprised of more than 300 schools throughout the U.S. and Canada who are dedicated to using clean sources of sustainable energy and educating students about solutions to global warming. By 2008, they intend to have more than one thousand schools take the challenge.
The President’s Climate Commitment is an effort of college presidents throughout the world to “address the climate challenge by eliminating global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum.” Former USM President Richard Pattenaude is a signatory of the commitment.
Both have one focus in mind: and end to global warming.
“We need to reduce society’s need to burn fuel, our dependency on oil, coal and fossil fuels,” says Favreau.
To help accomplish this feat, to do its own part and be an example to others, Favreau is pushing for the UMaine system to purchase their electricity from homegrown wind farms.
“It’s local,” he says, “there are eight or nine functioning wind farms in Maine already, and there are more to come.”
Favreau isn’t content to stop with wind energy either.
To use clean electricity, which wind energy would provide, “is easier, because the electricity we get comes from a grid.” Clean energy can be purchased from this grid. Heat, on the other hand, is different.
“The UMaine system isn’t set up with electric heat; there are boilers. It would be nice to convert to biofuels sometime down the line. But that will come later.”
PIRG is petitioning the university system’s board of trustees to pledge their support in making the conversion to wind power. A signature week is planned for Feb. 4-8 and they are seeking students “to rally behind us.” They are to meet with the board later this semester to present their petition.
“We could really use students there,” Favreau says.
The Maine Student PIRG at USM is a part of a nation-wide program consisting of many state and student chapters.
For more information about the group or on how to get involved with the signature week in Febrary, contact Eric Favreau at [email protected]. You can also stop by the PIRG office in the student government offices of Woodbury Campus Center.