After years of planning and research, the UW Climate Action Plan (CAP) is complete.

The document, which was produced by students, faculty and administrators, outlines areas where the UW is already doing well in environmental sustainability and points out where the UW still has a lot of progress to make. The CAP doesn’t contain any actual plans that will be implemented, but instead, refers to itself as “a plan to plan.”

For instance, one part of the CAP notes that commuter levels of individuals traveling in single-occupancy vehicles for the three UW campuses can still be reduced. The “proposed action” outlined in the CAP reads: “Explore how to attract faculty and staff to live near campus and advance the construction of new student residence halls that are energy efficient.”

It is between now and fall of 2010 — when a detailed implementation document is expected to be released — that all of this “exploring” will take place. The students, now more than ever, need to be involved in voicing their sustainability needs, concerns, goals and desires to the administration. Because, in times of great progress, it is possible for overzealous oversight to occur.

The CAP was presented to the Board of Regents just before the beginning of the quarter. After only an hour of discussion, one idea thrown into the ring by Regent Stanley Barer was that, in order to offer incentive to increase green transportation, the university should increase parking fees for anyone who did not drive a hybrid or fuel-efficient vehicle. Granted, the discussion was informal, and no plans of this magnitude have been set, but the fact that such ideas were being considered is worrisome.

It is important to remember that the UW is first and foremost an educational institution and that providing education to its students at an affordable price should be the university’s first priority. While it is admirable that the UW is taking such progressive steps to make sure the institution is environmentally responsible, we need to make sure that these efforts do not come at the students’ expense. In a time when students are already facing a 14-percent tuition increase and the possibility of increased fees in the next legislative session, it is not fair for them to be expected to pay more for parking because they can’t afford a new car. Yes, sustainability is favorable, but it can also be expensive.

This is, of course, only one side of an extreme, and this editorial should be seen as a caution more than anything else. Because, after all, this community’s dedication to environmental responsibility has already led to a lot of common-sense practices that have actually saved students money, such as default double-sided printing in campus printers which is expected to save as much as 35 percent of copy-paper volumes.

But with the university preparing to make drastic headway on the sustainability front, now, more than ever, students, faculty and staff need to be vigilant in making sure we’re making the most responsible choices for all parties involved.

This is the opinion of the Daily’s Editorial Board: Editor-in-Chief Casey Smith, Production Director Colleen Kirsten, Opinion Editor Allen Wagner, Sports Editor Chrisitan Caple, Lifestyles Editor Rachel Solomon, Development Editor Vicky Yan and copy chiefs Jacob Rosok and Parisa Sadrzadeh. To reach the editorial board, send an e-mail to opinion@dailyuw.com.