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Erick Alsup of Mount Clemens is a faithful Spartan football fan, purchasing season tickets each of the past nine years. Every home game, the 1973 MSU graduate loads up his 1992 Damon Challenger and heads to East Lansing to tailgate with friends. Alsup gladly takes the 100-mile trip in his motor home to East Lansing and sometimes even travels to Notre Dame and Wisconsin to watch the Spartans. "It's well worth it," Alsup said. "It's all a part of the experience." Yet it is not without an environmental cost. Alsup's 31.5 foot-long RV is among some 15,000 vehicles that flock to campus during a typical football game. At the most popular games, such as with the University of Michigan, the number of cars, trucks and motor homes covering the campus can reach 20,000 as the crowds swell with people who aren't even going to the game. |
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"Michigan is in a class by itself. It dwarfs even MSU versus Notre Dame," said Roger Brooks, who is in charge of MSU special events parking. "It is probably 20 to 25 percent bigger than Notre Dame." The thousands of trips fans make to see the Spartans add to what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says is a major source of air pollution. Vehicles release dangerous pollutants like carbon dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere. According to the Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2001 vehicle emissions were responsible for 66 percent of the carbon monoxide emitted in the country, 47 percent of nitrogen oxide and 5 percent of particulates. Those emissions contribute to smog, which can trigger health problems like asthma. Particulates irritate the eyes and nose and aggravate respiratory problems. They have also been linked to an increased risk of premature death. "Emissions definitely can impact in different ways," said Jack Harkema, who researches the effects of air pollution on the nose and lungs. "They are responsible for the nation's declined health." Vehicle emissions also contribute to the greenhouse gases that are a source of global warming. According to the federal government, vehicle emissions were responsible for 27 percent of all greenhouse gases in 2002. So how much air pollution do Spartan fans produce when they travel to East Lansing to root for their team? |
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That's hard to say. But if you conservatively assume that the average fan travels 10 miles roundtrip, formulas used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicate that travel to and from a typical Spartan game produces: * 55.5 million tons of carbon dioxide * 156,000 tons of nitrogen oxide * 900 tons of particulates If the average roundtrip was 40 miles, then fans produce: * 222 million tons of carbon dioxide * 624,000 tons of nitrogen oxide * 3,600 tons of particulates That is not all the vehicle emissions prompted by game days. Sixteen CATA shuttle buses transfer 6,000 to 7,000 fans between the commuter lot and the stadium during home games. Each CATA bus holds 225 gallons of diesel fuel and gets 4 miles to the gallon. The shuttles travel about 900 miles per game, emitting an estimated: * 5.3 million tons of carbon dioxide * 14, 976 tons of nitrogen oxide * 86.4 tons of particulates "It's a huge event," said Cindy Chadwick, CATA Operations Coordinator for MSU. "There's a big need (for transportation.)" |
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And then there is the impact on the finite natural resources used to produce the fuel to move all those vehicles. The shuttle operation alone consumes 3,600 gallons of diesel fuel each game. Using EPA formulas for figuring fuel efficiency for the nation's vehicle fleet, gasoline consumption would be 7,692 gallons if the vehicles at Spartan football games traveled 10 miles roundtrip. The 40-mile assumption means 30,769 gallons are consumed. Emissions and fuel consumption are not the only environmental headaches produced by vehicles. When big games bring in big numbers, parking areas are soon filled. "We park cars for a big game like Michigan or Notre Dame in places where we would not park them for any other games," Brooks said. These last-resort lots are grass areas near the railroad tracks on Trowbridge and the area near the Agriculture & Livestock Education Building pavilion. Parking vehicles in such areas is not only bad for the grass, it can harm trees, said Steve Frank, who coordinates landscaping for MSU. When cars drive underneath trees two or three times, they compact the soil to the density of concrete. That chokes off the root system, making it hard for trees to get nutrients. "You may not see the tree die right away, it may be two or three years later, it may not die completely, it may just struggle," Frank said. "Obviously with the campus being an arboretum we take that pretty seriously, we want to avoid that if possible" A campaign called Save the Trees is one way the university has tried to avoid such damage. Grounds Maintenance began the campaign three years ago. Information was placed in ticket packets to educate tailgaters and raise their awareness about how their vehicles can harm the campus environment. Grounds Maintenance helped to further the campaign by fencing trees and by poking holes into the ground to prevent soil compaction caused by vehicles driving on the grass. "The grounds maintenance issues have been solved to a great extent by this campaign. We don't have nearly the problems we had three or four years ago," Frank said. When it comes to vehicle emissions caused by Spartan tailgaters, there is nothing the university can do to control it. But it is making progress in protecting the campus landscape. "I'm proud of what we're doing here. We are doing things to try to stir people in the right direction," Frank said. "It's not like you can snap your fingers and have grass suddenly appear or a hundred-year-old tree grow. Once it's gone, it's gone." |
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