Sunday, October 5, 2014

Beyond Coal Convinces UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees to Invest In Clean Energy

College Go Green’s passion and enthusiasm for connecting students and their green ideas has been the key to our success. So in staying true to our passion and goals, College Go Green presents to you Beyond Coal UNC.

Beyond Coal

Beyond Coal is a student ran organization at UNC Chapel Hill. Since its inception, it has successfully persuaded UNC to convert its on campus coal plant into a biofuel plant by the year 2020. Since this success, Beyond Coal has switched its focus to encouraging the University to divest its endowment from other coal plants.

In April of 2014, Beyond Coal hosted a sustainability forum. The purpose of this forum was to generate dialogue around the issue of renewable energy and the role UNC should play in sustainability efforts. As a result, Beyond Coal was able to convince UNC’s Board of Trustees to pass a resolution proposing UNC increase investments into cleaner, renewable energy.

Currently, Beyond Coal is in transition. As its seasoned members prepare to graduate and new members join, the group is in the process of collecting feedback, planning how to ensure UNC follows through with its new green commitments, and deciding what new issues to address.

College Go Green had the privilege of talking to Tait Chandler, a UNC student who works closely with Beyond Coal. He currently plays the role of informal director/adviser for the group.

Chandler grew up in Canada in a beautiful and resource rich region. In high school, he was exposed to an environmental group fighting to stop shell oil drilling in the area. Although Chandler did not join this   group in high school, he followed it closely and watched how its work directly resulted in the preservation of the wilderness.

“When I came to UNC and learned about Beyond Coal, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity, again, to make a difference.”-Tait Chandler

Chandler joined beyond coal his freshman year and has been with the organization ever since.


Being that our generation will inherit the current climate condition, it is important that college students be aware of the environmental challenges happening around us and are a part of the conversations/solutions. Kudos to the Beyond Coal UNC students who have worked towards a greener UNC.





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