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Sierra coalition hosts Save the Ales
HUNTINGTON -- Here's a headline for you -- "Students work to save endangered beer."
Unfortunately, it's no laughing matter and has become a new push in the fight against global warming.
From 8 to 10 p.m. today, the Java Joint, 1555 3rd Ave., will host Save the Ales, an event organized by the Sierra Student Coalition in conjunction with the Young Democrats. Alpha Phi Omega will host the event.
I'm With Curtis and the Big Fun Band will provide live music.
Heather Sprouse, a member of the group, said in an e-mail that the event is a great way to hammer home the immediacy and seriousness of global climate change to her fellow students.
"While global climate change has already affected polar bears and seals, climate change is also expected to severely impact hops production, a main ingredient in all beer," Sprouse wrote. "This means students in the near future may not be able to afford a deuce of Bud Light, much less a 30 (ounce) can of Milwaukee's Best Chest. While saving the whales was the environmental craze of the '90s, the new millennium has endangered something of even greater consequence to college students: Ales."
Marshall University professor Christopher Dolmetsch furthered explained the hops crisis now plaguing European growers.
"Germany and the Czech Republic (the main hop growing regions in Europe) have experienced tremendous setbacks due to global warming, and this in unlikely to change in the foreseeable future," Dolmetsch said in the release. "In America, the falling dollar along with the increasing beer prices will mean that the imported beers, previously costing in the range of $7 to $9 per six pack, will likely increase to between $10 to $14 per six pack."
The event is part of Sierra Club's Campus Climate Challenge, an initiative of more than 500 colleges and universities across the nation to reduce the amount of carbon emissions they produce.
On Marshall's campus, the Sierra Student Coalition also has been working to implement a recycling program in all residence halls and academic buildings, begin a student-led garden to raise awareness for the benefits of local and organic food and is working within the administration to incorporate more energy efficient building practices.
For more information about the Sierra Student Coalition, e-mail Heather Sprouse at sprouse15@marshall.edu.
