RELEASED: November 19, 2009

By Abby Malik

DANVILLE, KY—This week, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) issued a report titled "Generation E: Students Leading for a Sustainable, Clean Energy Future." In the report, 165 different U.S. colleges and universities are profiled because of their students' efforts to create a sustainable future.

The report highlights the unique and critical role college students are playing in reforming sustainability programs that lower their campuses’ carbon footprints, and Centre College's student-initiated Green Fund effort is included in the report.

In 2007, more than three-fourths of Centre students voted for the creation of a Green Fund, an initiative that requires students to pay an annual $20 surcharge on their tuition to purchase renewable energy credits from the local Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric Station, located near Harrodsburg, Ky.

These funds help subsidize the station's production of electricity which is much cleaner but more expensive to generate than that created at coal-powered plants.

This is the first time a college or university in Kentucky has privately funded local renewable energy sources in order to offset its carbon emissions. The $20 tuition surcharge went into effect this term.

This isn't the only time Centre students have been recognized for their sustainability efforts. Recently E.ON., the parent company of Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas & Electric, presented Centre and its students with the company's favorite non-residential customer award for students' efforts with the Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric Station.

Have comments, suggestions, or story ideas? E-mail leigh.ivey@centre.edu with your feedback.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.