Ok, I was checking my uni email account and usually get hundreds of 'useful' emails from the Student Services about various rubbish that I'm probably supposed to care about (90% of the time they get deleted before opening) but there was one in there today about E.On coming to do an assesement session for students, it's nice and free and it'll give us good information yada yada yada... I got annoyed, the Uni is supposed to be advocating being green and ecologically aware, so they invite E.On in?!? What the &£*%?? so... I replied to the email with
Dear Student Services,
I'd like to reply to the email about E.On assessment session.
Firstly, I feel absolutely disgusted and ashamed to be any part of a University that will OPENLY admit to having anything to do with a company such as E.On, much less inviting it's students to invest their time in ANYTHING run by them.
I'll explain my reasoning for feeling absolutely appalled that De Montfort University is advocating becoming more ecologically aware to it's students by running a "Green Energy Honours BSc" (http://www.dmu.ac.uk/Subjects/Db/course ... rseID=1093) and having links to various ethical and ecologically "green" shops and schemes (see the bottom of this page: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/student_serv ... cester.jsp ) even the Student Services themselves -who sent the E.On email in the first place- have advocated the positives of being green, "Elsewhere there were pedi cabs to provide free transport around campus for students and parents. These eco friendly vehicles helped to reduce the need for car travel around the DMU Campus." (DMU website: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/student_serv ... day_13.jsp). There's even a fair-trade cafe on campus!
How is it then, with this good start on the green-front form the university as a whole that it can then go and be completely hypocritical by inviting gas guzzling E.On to the University in the first place?
What are the reasons for disliking any involvement in E.On in the first place? Mainly due to the company's £1bn investment into the Kingsnorth Coal Fired power station, vastly reducing any hope the UK has of meeting its carbon emissions targets (as it will produce 6-8 million tonnes of CO2 a year: http://www.e-onf-off.org.uk/why.html), put into perspective by the World Development Movement: "EON's new power station planned for Kingsnorth will output more CO2 each year than the whole of Ghana" (http://www.nonewcoal.org.uk/).
How can a university committed to moulding the next generation of minds think it appropriate to associate with a company who's ethics have been largely up for debate in recent months? Please don't try and tell me it's "clean coal" they're supporting as it had been proven that this idea is a non-starter as it STILL produces 20% more carbon emissions than a gas-powered power station.
Why doens't the university go the whole way and get in T***o to do a little talk about their wonderful standard chickens and while they're there swing by and speak to the people responsible for the decisions to expand Heathrow and Stansted Airport?
I would feel happier as a student of De Montfort University if the hypocrisy would stop and the university as a whole made an effort to balance out things for their students and give them useful advice on such matters. Why not talk to Greenpeace or the Campaign for Climate Action, or is the idea of collaborating with such groups something the University finds unacceptable because if it is I will have to seriously consider my position as a DMU student on the grounds of ethics.
Yours Sincerely
Nicole Younie
did I go too far?? i think maybe I did...
If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.
Yay!
No, you didn't go too far. I think what you put was very well written, to the point, and down-right necessary. Well done. I hope there are more people like you at your uni who do the same thing.
I dont think you went too far. You have written a well reasoned argument backed up with evidence that hopefully will force them to look at their actions.
Let us know what happens!
Off grid retreats, rustic cottages, yoga holidays and more in the midst of nature in Central Portugal
Look, I'm all for having an easy life, but sometimes when hypocrisy such as this hits you right between the eyes, you HAVE to make a stand.
I hope that you're not the only voice speaking out about this to the University, and that you are one of many - strength in numbers, huh?
Let us know how it goes... we're all behind you, you know that!
Yay! 
(thanks)
