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Dear Cornell and community, Who has the power to move Cornell at the highest levels?
We do.
Who is currently moving Cornell at the highest levels? No one. Cornell is stuck. Nearly halfway through the decisive decade, with less than six years to halve our emissions by 2030, Cornell is stuck in the status quo. Our meeting with the Carbon Neutral Campus Committee on March 5th made it quite clear: Cornell’s leadership is not yet willing to commit to international goals for a safe planet. Never mind that they committed to leading by example with the Kyoto Protocol’s emission reduction goals in 2001. Forget President Skorton’s 2010 declaration on reducing Cornell’s carbon footprint: "Through example and the bully pulpit, we will educate the state, the nation and the world." Never mind that the UN Secretary General is calling on leaders at every level, from company to city to nation, to implement plans with “clear 2030 and 2035 targets, that align with 1.5 degrees, that cover the whole economy.” Never mind that Cornell’s Associate VP for Energy and Sustainability stated in 2019 that “the need for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut in half by 2030 is well established scientifically.” When we asked Cornell’s Carbon Neutral Campus Committee to follow up on that pledge, they all but cleared their throats and looked the other way. In a ten-minute presentation, we outlined the urgent state of climate science, noting that Cornell’s progress to date and projected plans are inadequate to meet internationally agreed climate targets (and their own targets, and Ithaca’s targets). We listed a series of practical actions Cornell could take now and asked them to make brave tradeoffs for radical climate leadership. Cornell leadership’s response felt disconnected from our climate reality. It was hard to detect any sense of urgency around the fact that actions undertaken over the next six years will have permanent, irreversible consequences for life on this planet. On the one hand, they “personally” agreed with the need for climate action. On the other hand, it didn’t check out “professionally.” What obstacles were cited? “One of our competitor institutions might build a new business school, and we need to keep up.” “We must maintain our competitive status.” “We have multiple stakeholders.” And the real head-scratcher: “Cornell has been here for 150 years, and we want it to be here for another 150 years.” Does Cornell leadership understand that their current business-as-usual trajectory is consistent with a world that is 3 to 4 degrees hotter 75 years from now, which has been described as a catastrophic climate endgame in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences? It is hard to imagine Cornell being here for students in 150 years if we fail to act courageously now. Does Cornell leadership know that we have everything to gain from keeping the 1.5-degree goal alive? Do they understand that every fraction of a degree of matters, and that we can do a great deal now to make the future much less bad? Have they considered that every single one of their stakeholders is vitally dependent on a habitable planet (and every other human and nonhuman stakeholder besides)? We have. And we are deeply concerned that Cornell’s business-as-usual framework is unable to accommodate the existential threat of climate change. We ask Cornell's Carbon Neutral Campus Committee, Cornell’s Trustees, President Pollack, Provost Kotlikoff, and all other Cornell leaders to take a clear stand on the following question: Is Cornell committed to the international target of a 1.5-degree pathway, or does Cornell instead find it more reasonable to continue on a 3 or 4-degree pathway given the short-term tradeoffs?*
It is incumbent upon every leader, including Cornell’s, to clearly communicate the consequences of inadequate climate action. Is the burden of truth too much to bear for Cornell leadership? We think not. The Trustees are coming to town this week. We need to communicate, with perfect clarity, what kind of leadership we need and expect from Cornell. Please complete this anonymous 2-minute poll to share your stance on the question above.
Your response will be critical to correcting the equation of power that has come to dominate Cornell’s status-quo decision making. And if for any reason you pause to speak up on Cornell’s climate inaction, please consider this deeply. A new paper highlights three reasons that universities have failed to adequately respond to the climate crisis. On par with (1) fossil fuel interests and (2) financialization is (3) the "reticence of university employees to challenge the status quo." Whether we are employees, students, alum, or community members, it’s critical to find our voice and tell Cornell’s leaders that the status quo is no longer acceptable. We will not be dismissed as fanciful dreamers; it is time for all of us to embrace the immovable truth that life is unsustainable on this current path. Who finally has the power to move Cornell? The Earth does.
Moving,
Cornell on Fire *To learn why Cornell’s current Climate Action Plan masks a “business-as-usual” approach that puts us on a 3-4 degree pathway, please read our Climate Action Report’s analysis of problems and proposals for high-confidence solutions. Cornell on Fire’s position on freedom of expressionCornell on Fire condemns Cornell’s use of an Interim Expressive Activity Policy to restrict the freedom to protest on campus. In solidarity with other groups and members of the Cornell community expressing this sentiment, we affirm that we will not be silenced, and we stand by the right of all groups seeking to raise critical voices using civil disobedience at Cornell to do so. According to Axios, the strong majority (86%) of college students on US campuses believe their institutions “should make them feel safe sharing their opinions on tense social issues and global conflicts.” A majority of students “increasingly view their colleges as hypocritical, and think administrators are prioritizing big donors over free speech.” This culture of expressive fear is at the heart of the climate crisis. A recent paper describes the failure of universities to address the climate crisis in terms of “academic capture,” in which “powerful minority interests exert influence and derive benefits at the expense of a larger group or purpose.” Those interests (identified as fossil fuels and financialization) are protected by the “reticence of university employees to challenge the status quo.” In this context, Cornell’s Interim Expressive Activity Policy is a chilling reminder of exactly whose interests are being served by repression of expressive freedom. In this context, it is all the more important to speak up against injustice and wrongdoing by the Cornell administration, to uphold our right to protest and to act with integrity to build the world we want to live in. OpportunityDo you have a talent for music or acting? We want to hear from you as soon as possible! We are looking for participants to help with two short-term creative projects to help spread the Cornell on Fire message. We need: (1) singers and musical instrument players to help compose, produce, and record a movement song that can be shared ahead of Earth Day; (2) actors to take part in a comedy skit about the movement's progress so far, also to be recorded and shared. Write to connect@cornellonfire.org. Updates from Cornell on FireEvidence of the power to move! Cornell has made their first public change in response to our Climate Action Report. Check it out here. This is proof that Cornell can move toward greater transparency in response to advocacy. Webpage updates: Our webpage is expanding along with our movement. Check out our new pages under “News.” Corrections: Note that corrections were made to our Climate Action Report on March 5. We corrected an error in the reporting of emissions according to CLCPA, and corrected that Cornell deducts grid export from their net (not gross) emissions. See details here.
Get involved nowRead our reports. What you need to know to demand the change we need. Sign Our Demands. Tell Cornell to lead the way with a climate response that is adequate in ambition, credibility, and urgency. Drop by Office Hours. Visit us on Cornell’s Ho Plaza every Friday from 11a-12:30p. Join our Working Group: Support us with participation, research, or consultation by reaching out to connect@cornellonfire.org. Advise our Working Group: Our Movement Advisors include experts consulting on everything from Indigenous restorative justice to fossil free research and local activism history. Join our Alliance Partners: Advance climate justice and your organization’s mission by endorsing our movement. Ask us how to get started at admin@cornellonfire.org. Spread the word: Forward this newsletter to others.
Mark your calendarEngage the wider movementThe Just Cause Employment campaign for Ithaca’s workers has launched! Sign the petition here. We see Just Cause as essential for the climate movement. Cornell is currently an “at-will” employer, meaning that employees can be fired without just cause. Climate action will benefit from, and might even require, people having the job security they need to speak honestly about the climate crisis and demand change from the institutions they can touch. Those institutions are first and foremost their own employers. Cornell University will be the first to benefit from the culture of dignity and respect that a just cause employment policy will bring.
Wednesday, March 20th: New York Renews is holding a mass mobilization in Albany in support of the Climate, Jobs, and Justice package. People across the state will show up in support of an equitable clean energy transition! Learn more here. There will be a free bus to take people from Ithaca to and from Albany on the 20th; register for a spot now. There will be a pickup downtown at the Wegmans at 5:45am, and a second pickup on Cornell campus outside of Bartels Hall at 6am. Thursday, April 11, 4:30p - 5:30p: What does consciousness have to do with our survival in the face of the unfolding climate catastrophe? This, and many other fundamental questions, will be explored at The Consciousness Revolutions: From Amoeba Awareness to Human Emancipation, A HYBRID Chats in the Stacks Book Talk with Shimon Edelman, professor in the Department of Psychology and Cornell on Fire member. In person at160 Mann Library OR register here via Zoom.
Opt for future communicationsHearing from us for the first time? We’re reaching out because your work or studies are relevant to the questions at hand. (This listserv is 100% handmade, not scraped by a bot.) Opt in here and choose your email frequency (monthly or weekly). Opt out of all communications by clicking “unsubscribe” below Do nothing: enjoy rare announcements like this one.
Thank you for reading this far and engaging in the number-one frontline for climate action: your attention.
Newsletter #4 originally published on March 17, 2024 Opt out of Cornell on Fire Newsletters: write “unsubscribe” to connect@cornellonfire.org or click “unsubscribe” below.
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