Use Green Wisely: East needs to invest in EV chargers to prevent climate issues in the future

The year is 2050: sunscreen is sold out everywhere due to high UV radiation and vegetation outside of East’s office has been fried to a crisp by the sun.

It’s officially too late to install electric vehicle charging ports.

Before climate change makes this scorching, dystopian future a reality, administration must answer student calls for electric vehicle chargers to join a nationwide push for green energy and make a smart local investment. 

At least 13 students and staff at East use EVs to get to school according to an Instagram poll.

When a student proposed the idea to establish two $7,000 Evergy dual-port ChargePoint charging ports in the parking lot, administration declined stating that East “[does] not have [money] within our school budget to make this kind of investment.”

Electric cars are a proven way to slow global warming, producing 50% less CO2 emissions than a regular, gas-powered vehicle according to Monta. Transportation accounted for 38% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

There's clearly a problem that East isn't doing its part to solve.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2023 was the hottest year in history.

Additionally, there is a one-in-three chance that 2024 will be even hotter than 2023 according to NOAA.

Investing in EV chargers is not as futile as the district may believe. Take the El Monte Union High School District in El Monte, California, as an example where staff and students have switched to EV cars after installing 44 charging ports. They made the switch due to the reduction of gas costs with EV vehicles.

Even the federal government announced new grants for EV chargers to states supplying $623 million in January to over twenty states. 

Locally, the Prairie Village City Council has committed to having zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in ordinance with their Environmental Committee. The Environmental Committee holds events such as recycling fundraisers and curbside recycling pickup to gain community support.

SMSD administration should join the fight by funding charging ports. Or, at the very least, by devising a plausible plan to fund ports in the near future instead of dismissing student concern.

If electric car-driving students are charged a $2 or $3 fee each time they use the ports, East could slowly but surely earn back the money invested.

Now is the time for SMSD to contribute to the fight against climate change, as cold-snaps grow longer and extreme heat presses on in the summer months. The Kansas weather is showing tell-tale signs of climate change and it can’t be ignored.

Before we know it, the air will be too thick with greenhouse gasses for students to drive to school anyway, whether they're in electric cars or not.