Told You So

Remember in February I talked about the Carbon Neutral Campus that was all of the rage, with schools pledging to dismiss proven science in an effort to be green in a politically correct way. I said at the time:

Luckily, no Maryland schools have signed up for this as of yet. But I have a feeling that some private or public school in our state is going to sign up for this, taking millions of taxpayer dollars with it.

Well, here come the screws:

More than 280 college presidents - including the head of Maryland's flagship public university - pledged yesterday to fight global warming by making their campuses "climate neutral."

Signers of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, which was inspired by similar collective efforts among cities and businesses, are pledging to work toward neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions on campus and to increase global warming research and education efforts.

Among Maryland college presidents who have signed the pledge are C.D. "Dan" Mote Jr. of the University of Maryland, College Park; Jonathan C. Gibralter of Frostburg University; Joan Develin Coley of McDaniel College; and Baird Tipson of Washington College.

As a taxpayer, I am of course appalled that two public schools are signing on to this; especially considering all of the whining and moaning that went on the last several years regarding the state of funding for higher education in Maryland. The last thing I want are public schools reallocating resources from their primary mission of educating students in an effort to pass Pollyanna-ish environmental reforms because certain politically motivated scientists tell them the sky is falling.

And as an alumnus of a signatory school (under its real name, I must remind you), I have a major problem with this bullet:

Use their endowment investments to advocate for environmentally friendly business policies.

Once again, I don't want to see a private institution (even one that gets millions from the state of Maryland under the Sellinger Fund [learn more about that boondoggle]) waste money that could be reinvested on (bad) infrastructure and educational improvements blowing money on environmental insanity. What's even more disturbing, to me, is the fact that a private institution of higher learning thinks it is appropriate to use monies from its endowment as a hammer in an effort to lobby businesses and presumably governments on the need for environmentally friendly business practices. You have to ask yourself if colleges these days are places of higher learning or liberal reeducation camps, but sadly I think I know the answer.

(Ironically, going to Western Maryland College made me more conservative...and I'm not the only one who became that way...)