If WJ becomes grid neutral, a site that produces as much electricity as it uses in a year, then students can anticipate change in the school’s design in order to attain higher energy efficiency and on site energy generation. WJ students involved in Montgomery County Student Environmental Activists (MCSEA) are campaigning to reach this grid neutral goal.

According to their website, MCSEA is a completely student-run organization of roughly 30 students from nine Montgomery County high schools and colleges. Whether it be halting highway projects or protecting local forests, MCSEA has a rich ten-year history of making real change to protect the environment in the county and in the country.

“One of our goals now is to start working towards having all public schools in Montgomery County producing all of their own energy or to become grid neutral,” said sophomore and MCSEA member Sara Peterson. “This would eliminate our county’s reliance on foreign oil.”                                                  

If MCSEA is successful, energy saving methods such as wind turbines and geothermal heating may become more common place in our county in the future.

“Our goal is a 20 percent grid neutral by the year 2020 and 80 percent grid neutral by 2050,” said Peterson.

However, these types of goals do not happen overnight, and it would take a lot of cooperation from students and schools to make this happen. Members of MCSEA are aware of this necessity for cooperation and sacrifice. 

“For a project like this to work, there would need to be more efficient heating systems in every school, and smarter lighting,” said junior and MCSEA member Adam Moskowitz. “It just doesn’t make sense to leave doors open when it’s cold, or to light a room that no one’s in.” 

A couple of MCPS schools have already implemented environmentally friendly procedures to save energy. Clarksburg High School, Richard Montgomery High School and College Gardens Elementary School have solar panels installed on their roofs.

“These are only the first three, and the county plans on installing solar panels in more schools in the future,” said junior and MCSEA member Jackson Wilke.  “While this is a good step forward, a lot more can be done to reduce energy costs.”

MCSEA hopes to have every public school  in Montgomery County  implement similar energy saving methods. These methods would save WJ money in addition to energy as there would no longer be a need to buy energy from a power company. 

MCSEA has sent county officials a petition to show support for an environmentally-friendly school system and to demand more diverse i energy saving methods throughout the county.

“There have been Board of Education members, in addition to some county council members, that have supported this,” said Wilke. “Nothing official has been deliberated on yet. However, the county has been taking steps towards grid neutrality as part of the Cool Counties commitment they took, which is an agreement to reduce carbon emissions.”

Members of the club leading the effort set a tone of optimism in this long term effort.

“I’m optimistic about what people can do when they work together, and after all the work I’ve done with student environmentalists from across the country,” said Moskowitz. “I think right now is a great opportunity to get America on track in how it handles the environment and energy and all the issues that are bound to those.”