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Dear Cornell on Fire, Two of Cornell’s governing bodies weighed in on Cornell’s State of Sustainability this month, and their conclusions could not have been more divergent. As the administration doubled down on their well-intentioned incrementalism, the Student Assembly had enough: they advanced a resolution to dramatically expand and accelerate Cornell’s Climate Action Plan. In another case of idealists versus hard-nosed realists, we bring good tidings: the students (the realists) are right, and a new white paper on Cornell’s Heating Decarbonization pathways underscores the strength of their case. The sun is always shining when Cornell’s administrators take the stage to expound on progress toward “carbon neutrality” (a problematic concept, much-liked by greenwashers). On December 9, administrators led by Rick Burgess, Vice President of Facilities and Campus Services, delivered yet another bubbly State of Sustainability Address. The Cornell they spoke of boasts year-on-year platinum STARS ratings and progresses splendidly towards carbon neutrality, at least as depicted in a “beautiful graphic” without numbers. As for the numbers: it was actually suggested (without a trace of irony) that it might be “reductionist” to focus on reducing Cornell’s own carbon footprint. The students see through this. On December 5, the Student Assembly adopted a resolution to renew Cornell’s Climate Vows (inspired by our demands). The Cornell they speak of is considerably less starry than that of the administrators: the university systematically underreports its emissions, excludes the vast majority of its carbon footprint from its climate action plan, and is not progressing as promised. The resolution lays out forward-looking proposals for improvement including (1) adopt sustainability as a core institutional goal (translation: put your money where your mouth is); and (2) decarbonize now. As winter arrives in Ithaca, all our heaters are hard at work, bringing one of the key disagreements into stark relief: When should Cornell start decarbonizing its campus heating systems? Cornell’s flagship heating decarbonization project, Earth Source Heat, remains experimental. If successful, it will only (optimistically) serve the campus by 2035. What should Cornell do in the interim? This question is as weighty as the manifold new construction projects on campus. Look around at the sprawling chaos of new buildings rewriting the ecosystem on The Hill. Not only does each building grind its concrete foot into the face of Cornell’s 2013 climate pledge to reduce new construction (such a quaint notion!) – but they add insult to injury by using fracked gas from Cornell’s Combined Heat and Power Plant for heating, rather than decarbonizing with heat pumps. The Student Assembly resolution calls for immediate decarbonization of all new construction. So does the Ithaca Energy Code Supplement (IECS). Informally known as Ithaca’s “Green Building Code,” the IECS mandates fossil-fuel phaseout in all new construction and major renovations. You would think that Cornell, self-proclaimed climate leader, would embrace this law wholeheartedly. Quite the opposite. Cornell has submitted amendments to make themselves exempt from Ithaca’s fossil-fuel phaseout. Their argument? When not presenting Earth Source Heat as the solution (never mind its delay), they claim that their hands are tied, because regrettable features of the NY electricity grid mean that decarbonization at Cornell would backfire by increasing grid emissions elsewhere. For years, Cornell’s scientists and local environmentalists have argued that they are wrong, and that Cornell’s delayed decarbonization strategy carries tremendous emissions costs. The answer can only be found by modeling the emissions associated with each decarbonization pathway. (Cornell’s administrators have provided no such modeling to support their claims.) Fortunately, Cornell engineers and a University of Illinois statistician have just delivered a gift to Cornell’s decision makers: a white paper that models the emissions associated with Cornell’s two possible decarbonization pathways (immediate vs. delayed). They find that immediate decarbonization does save carbon emissions – significantly – in all cases tested and under all NY grid projections. The white paper makes three contributions to Cornell’s – and Ithaca’s – decarbonization pathways: It supports a key ask of the Student Assembly Resolution and Cornell on Fire Demands. It supports the integrity of Ithaca’s Green Building Code as currently written. It reveals that Cornell’s delayed decarbonization is costly for people and planet, and may cost Cornell and Ithaca its climate goals.
Cornell’s decision makers need to take full accountability for the steep climate and social costs of their business-as-usual approach to heating new construction with fossil fuels. Strike another victory for the students, who have once again outpaced Cornell’s administrators in Reality 101. As one Student Assembly member noted (paraphrasing), “this will be the most important piece of legislation we’ve passed all year.” Their tale is the one that Cornell needs to hear: the climate emergency is real, immediate decarbonization is required, and a qualitative break from administrators’ business-as-usual attitude is imperative. Happy winter, Cornell on Fire *The curious reader can find supplemental notes in our corresponding blog post.
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