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Dear students, colleagues, friends, and neighbors,
There are moments in history where ordinary people must act, and when inaction amounts to complicity. We have the privilege of living at such a moment. More specifically, we have the privilege of participating in an elite university that exists “to do the greatest good” at a time when the stakes are very high and everything we’ve ever learned is being put to the test. With this in mind, we solicit your collaboration in worldmaking. N. K. Jemisin issued a challenge to Cornellians at her recent Bartels World Affairs Lecture: Ask yourself not what can I do, but what world do I want? The world is constructed through choices. Don’t leave the choosing to the few individuals whose ideas are accelerating climate breakdown. We are called to worldmaking as resistance. And nowhere do people have greater capacity to devote time and energy to worldmaking than at elite universities. This is the raison d’etre of higher education. It is our duty. Let us not fail our own calling at this critical moment. What does it mean to take adequate action on the scope and timescale necessary? Probe this question at a talk with Adam Aron, renowned UC San Diego Professor who quit neuroscience to focus on the climate crisis. Mark your calendar for Friday, December 1, at 12:30pm, when he will address why social mobilization is essential for confronting the climate crisis and what academics can do. How can we disrupt the hypnotic social narrative that claims we are “too busy” to think about the crisis that threatens our own and planetary survival? By breaking with the charade of normalcy. Join us as we suspend ordinary activities to reflect upon the climate emergency and crisis of inequity with an “On Fire Circle” on Ho Plaza Monday, December 4, at 3pm. Pay tribute to the last day of classes by turning your gaze inward to our collective power! As a reminder of what is at stake, contemplate the following disquieting facts: (1) we are at imminent risk of triggering multiple climate tipping points in our own lifetimes; (2) these tipping points will cause ecological destruction so severe that the human species is at risk of extinction; (3) almost no one is speaking honestly to the public about these realities, including academics; (4) it is still possible to avoid the worst outcomes through rapid, courageous, and disruptive collective action now. Here on The Hill, please consider these additional disquieting facts: (1) Cornell has pledged steep reductions of greenhouse gas emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. In 2009, the campus transition from coal to natural gas precipitated initial reductions (a debatable triumph given unaccounted methane emissions). But since its most recent 2013 Climate Action Plan, Cornell has actually increased emissions in almost every sector, with the exception of some temporary reductions reflecting Covid-19 disrupted operations. (2) One such COVID reduction occurred for university travel–one of the only areas of our campus carbon footprint that has reduced–but travel emissions are now bouncing back. (3) Many of us are not even aware of these life-threatening failures, but continue performing academia-as-usual as if personal success could guard us against a dead planet. (4) Far from being depressing, these facts are igniting. Cornell’s tremendous carbon footprint confers tremendous power for action. The people of Cornell hold the final power to refuse to comply with a destructive status quo. We are all at risk, but more importantly, we are all agents of transformation. And transformation is eminently doable. Collectively–with many voices–we can influence Cornell to leverage its vast resources to address climate change with far greater impact. It’s time to step up and engage in honest worldmaking. Step one: Declare a Climate Emergency, so that we can all agree to act on crisis footing. Cornell can become a beacon of change for the world we need. And it will, through collective action on the part of ordinary people. Us.
With you,
Cornell on Fire Confront the Status Quo:Engage the Wider MovementIthaca Community Meeting on Justice50: December 2nd, 2-3:30pm, at Tompkins County Library Borg Warner Room. Hosted by Sunrise Movement Ithaca and Climate Justice Cornell. Support: Watch the work of climate justice activists involved in Block Cop City as they take back the Weelaunee forest through a powerful collective action in Atlanta, Georgia, from November 10-13th. Local Ithacans join others traveling from around the country to aid the effort. Futures from the frontiers of climate science | Wednesday 15 November 2023, 10:00-11:15 EST. At this Frontiers Forum virtual event, climate and policy experts will examine how a Great Food Transition and other radical transformations can avert the climate crisis and steer humanity toward a hopeful, healthier future. Register today to secure your space.
Get Involved NowJoin our Working Group: Support us with participation, research, or consultation by reaching out to connect@cornellonfire.org. Our Working Group meets regularly to organize, envision, research, and carry out evolving objectives. Members come from across Cornell and the greater community. Advise our Working Group: Our Movement Advisors include a network of experts consulting on everything from Cornell’s current sustainability efforts to Indigenous restorative justice, fossil free research, and outreach and communications. Join our Alliance Partners: Advance climate justice and your organization’s mission by endorsing our movement. Ask us how to get started. Organizations endorsing our movement include: Climate Justice Cornell | Thrive Ithaca | Campus Climate Network | Sunrise Movement Ithaca | Mothers Out Front Tompkins | Extinction Rebellion Ithaca | Make Cornell Pay | and growing. Spread the word: Forward this email to others.
Newsletter #2 originally published on November 11, 2023 Opt out of Cornell on Fire Newsletters: write “unsubscribe” to connect@cornellonfire.org.
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