Posted by Trevor Lovell

 
On Wednesday, the UT Austin student body became the first to vote in favor of a new green fund for a public university in Texas since Texas State did so in 2003! It was a big first victory for ReEnergize Texas and the Think Green Fund campaign.


The final count showed 71% of student voters were in favor of the referendum which asked students whether they would like to pay an additional $5 per semester to support sustainability initiatives at the UT Austin campus. The proposal will now move to the UT System Board of Regents which will decide whether or not to implement the $5 fee as requested by the student body.

If implemented, the fund is expected to raise $2.5million over its five year lifespan. If students want the green fund to continue after that point, they will have to vote to renew the $5 fee.

Reached for comment today, UT Austin’s Director of Sustainability, Jim Walker, had this to say:

“The green fund will likely help a lot of good projects on campus move forward. Sustainability is a growing priority here on campus, as this vote demonstrates. I look forward to working with students on projects that show we’re moving in a direction that is supported by the student body.”

Jacob Bintliff who has headed the campaign is presumed to be taking a very well-deserved nap.

The Longhorn announcement came just one day ahead of the announcement at Texas A&M (expected later tonight). The two schools have been bitter rivals in many arenas, and recently sustainability has become one of them. Various indices of campus sustainability rank the two institutions similarly. Both have recently hired staff specifically for sustainability. It is yet to be seen whether both will actually create green funds.

Congratulations to the student campaigners at UT Austin. You have put Texas on track to having more public universities with green funds than any other in the country!

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