When Quincy House residents switched on their lights yesterday morning, the electricity flowing to their lightbulbs wasn’t coming from burning coal. Instead, the House began a week-long purchase of wind power, a renewable source of energy that does not damage the environment like fossil fuels do.

Though perfectly timed to edge out the competition for the Green Cup—Harvard’s way of promoting environmentally conscious behavior around Earth Day and which includes a cash prize for the most conscientious House—Quincy’s switch to this seemingly odd source of energy is, nevertheless, a good way to encourage the use of renewable energy on campus. By purchasing Tradeable Renewable Certificates, Quincy can force power companies to deliver the House’s electricity from renewable resources. However, this futile action amounts to little more than throwing money at renewable energy, since the House isn’t large enough to significantly increase demand for wind power. Indeed, the House Resource Efficiency Program’s motives are questionable as the investment is more likely to pay a handsome short-term dividend in the form of the Green Cup and a cash prize rather than leading to a long-term or sustainable increase in demand for renewable energy. But we hope that Quincy’s efforts will at least get the University community thinking about what it can do to promote renewables.

One way to make a real difference in Massachusetts would be to turn our attention to the larger, statewide issues of energy security and climate change. Proponents of renewable energy in the Commonwealth are fighting an uphill battle to capture even a negligible portion of the market share for renewables. A large offshore wind farm has been proposed for Cape Cod, for instance. The proposal could generate large amounts of renewable energy at competitive prices, if only local residents could stand the sight of windmills in their ocean views. We strongly support the development of wind power in Cape Cod and sincerely hope that the Gov. Mitt Romney and the state legislature put renewable energy ahead of local residents with not-in-my-backyard agendas. A large wind farm would be a concrete step towards a more sustainable and secure future for Mass energy production.

The University itself should also consider what it can do to promote renewable energy in Massachusetts. Budgets are tight across the University these days, so an expensive, long-term purchase of Tradeable Renewable Certificates—which are really just subsidies for the nascent renewable energy industry—is not feasible. As a research university, though, Harvard is poised to advance the science of renewable energy; new initiatives into renewable energy research should be encouraged. The University has also experimented with in-house energy production in the past, and should consider building its own environmentally friendly energy production facilities now, especially for the new campus in Allston. The Harvard Business School’s athletic building, Shad Hall, already gets 15 to 25 percent of its electricity from rooftop solar panels, and larger facilities would produce much more energy at lower cost.

Eventually, the entire University community—and the state of Massachusetts—will have to think seriously about renewable energy. But, for now, at least those in Quincy House will have some piece of mind when they flick on their light switches.