As about 50 people gathered Wednesday to protest Penn State's use of coal, three coal trucks drove by -- a juxtaposition that highlighted the competing viewpoints of the energy debate.

The anti-coal group gathered at 11:11 a.m. outside of the Reber Building, across from Penn State's on-campus coal-powered steam plant, to rally for alternative energy. Protestors wore yellow "Beyond Coal" shirts and held signs reading "Coal is dirty business" and "Too dirty for PSU," among other slogans.

As the coal trucks drove by, crowd members booed. Some CATA buses honked in support of the protestors as they passed by.

Keisha Odunze (freshman-biology) said a friend told her about the event and wanted to take a stand for what she feels is right.

"We might as well take charge now until it's too late and the atmosphere is really disgusting," she said.

Sierra Club organizer Nathaniel Meyer said the event aimed to show Penn State President Graham Spanier, who has agreed to meet with the group, how much support they have among students and to encourage Penn State's administration to set a timeline for moving beyond coal.

Chris Billman, a leader of Penn State Beyond Coal, spoke at the event, criticizing coal for its negative effects on both human health and the environment.

"We have to move Penn State beyond coal because coal is too dirty for Penn State, and it's too dirty for the world," Billman (junior-physics) said.

Paul Ruskin, spokesman for Penn State's Office of Physical Plant (OPP), agreed Penn State needs to move away from coal.

"I would say that OPP has been working on the concept and the need for a new power plant for many years. We are certainly in agreement on the need to move to new technology," he said. "The university is currently searching for the best direction that will be both economically and environmentally responsible."

Rose Monahan, also a leader of Penn State Beyond Coal, spoke to the crowd and called the coal plant "the elephant in the room," pointing out that students walk by it every day.

"If anyone has the opportunity to fix this problem, it's going to be us," she said.

Monahan (sophomore-political science and English) then led a chant of "2-4-6-8, no more coal at Penn State."

Penn State geography professor Brent Yarnal, who taught Penn State's first course on global warming, reminded the group that clean coal doesn't exist.

"My take-home message is that we need to phase out coal as fast as possible from Penn State," he said.