We are petitioning to raise concerns regarding the Board of Trustees failure to address climate change and sustainability and to express support for President Maric's recent pledge for carbon neutrality by 2030. We are concerned about the largest on-campus emitter—the Central Utility Plant (CUP) – which the Board of Trustees and Facilities Operations has taken NO action on to phase out.

The 2010 Climate Action Plan (CAP), along with the UConn President’s Working Group on Sustainability and the Environment (PWGSE), identified the most significant UConn contributor to the climate crisis as the carbon emissions from the CUP.  The latest 2020 report from the Office of Sustainability shows 63.3% of total campus emissions originate from CUP–which amounted to over 100,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions in this year alone.

In 2008, former UConn President Michael Hogan signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. In signing, UConn joined other institutions in recognizing the position that higher education has in shaping sustainable societies. Since then, the senior administration has only highlighted their “sustainable” accolades through the Climate Action Plan in 2010, the 2020 Vision for Campus Sustainability and Climate Leadership, and participating in Sierra Magazines Cool Schools initiative. This has permitted Facilities Operations leadership and the Board of Trustees to hide behind the continued excellence of its students and faculty.

However, while UConn tries to leverage their sustainable appearance through reports, commitments, and promises, no real action has been undertaken by the Board of Trustees to solidify a decarbonization plan – and decrease UConn’s carbon emissions. This is egregious especially with other universities in the region like UMass Amherst pledging to decarbonize.

To put in dollar amounts, UConn’s 100,000 metric tons of CO2 in 2019 costs the global economy at least $5,000,000. If the administration continues to do nothing, this will increase to at least $100,000,000 over the next twenty years. The student body is the largest financial provider for this University – and should NOT be tethered as contributors to the climate crisis. It is imperative that the Board of Trustees commits to decarbonization plans, while preserving the affordability of this university for students. 

These financial implications are important to raise, but behind each dollar is a life in peril. The continued emission of greenhouse gas leads to an increase in temperature and other negative feedback loops. This rapid transition of our planet is already apparent with sea level rise in places like the Maldives and Bangladesh, desertification across Sub-Saharan Africa and California, and extreme weather events in China and Pakistan. In the past few weeks, this was evident in Pakistan with the Indus River flooding and displacing millions. As the climate crisis continues to increase in the rate of lives it takes, removing UConn’s name from the list of contributors is paramount.

For this reason, we are asking you, the Board of Trustees, to act on the following:

Written commitment to the UConn student body outlining a structured plan for decarbonization of UConn by 2040, using components of the 2021 Report released by the President’s Working Group on Sustainability, to include:

A) Setting a date to halt CUP infrastructure retrofits and investments in retrofits across campus that prolong carbon-emitting infrastructure;

B) Aligning current master plan construction and rehabilitation projects with a timeline discontinuing the Central Utility Plant by 2040 and internal combustion engine systems on-campus, 

C) Arranging multi-disciplinary conversations about the infrastructure connection/on-campus clean energy generation needed to take the CUP offline as discussed in the President's Working Group on Sustainability & Environment,

D) Implement a tracking method available to inform the public and students about Facility progress on the campus’s conversion by 2040;

E) Enhancing the collaboration between Facilities Operations and the Institute of Environment to present information to the student body with yearly updates and a website with live metrics.

We are committed to holding our university accountable. UConn has continually leveraged its position as an environmentally-friendly campus to increase enrollment and gain recognition nationally. Now is a deciding moment to make clear where we stand as an institution.

By implementing the actions above, the Board of Trustees will showcase a tangible commitment to sustainability – specifically decarbonization. Not enacting these demands demonstrates that the Board of Trustees and University Administration’s actions on sustainability are nothing more than performative and a greenwashing strategy. 

We are hopeful the Board of Trustees will reaffirm the university’s commitment to a carbon free campus. Now is the time to take that meaningful, concrete action. 

Our collective futures are at stake.

Respectfully,