The La Crosse chapter of the No Coal Coaltion is sponsoring a rally to protest the coal power plant at UW-L.
The La Crosse plant only runs during the cold months. During the remainder of the year, the plant runs on natural gas.
"Hopefully, the State of Wisconsin will provide future funding...for UW-L to make the switch to natural gas or the new biomass materials that are being developed," said Chancellor Joe Gow in an email.
One of five power plants at UW-Madison was given funding for such a conversion after legal action was taken by the Sierra Club.
That conversion is projected to cost $200 to $300 million and be completed by 2012, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The plant doesn't produce electricity, according to graduate student and Environmental Council member Jeremy Gragert. Instead it heats water for campus buildings. The campus gets its electricity from Xcel Energy.
Gragert is also involved in staging the rally.
"Our state should be a leader in cleaner energy," Gragert said. "
Gragert is also a member of the Sierra Club, which will be working with the No Coal Coalition to stage the rally.
Gragert said he supports converting the plant to cleaner energy because of his experience as an undergrad at UW-Eau Claire and the investment by the state in converting Madison's power plant to renewable energy.
Environmental Council member Elizabeth Ward said, "If we pull this off, it will be Environmental Council's greatest project." Ward said she opposes the use of coal because of its harmful effects and also because it is "completely unnecessary" given that "we only burn it 25 percent of the time" on this campus.
The rally is being held next to the coal plant near Wittich Hall. The group has named a rain site, dubbed an "acid rain site," of Port O' Call in Cartwright.
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