Public comments: Trustee decision for fossil fuels weakens green UO branding

Presenter: The University of Oregon Board of Trustees heard public comments  March 17. Several speakers asked the University to address the climate crisis. Jeff Schroeder:

Jeff Schroeder: I want to make a very specific request today. As a professor of religious studies who teaches courses on religion and climate change, I care deeply about the climate crisis and about UO’s role in responding to it.

And so I want to use my time to join all the testimony you’ve already heard urging the board to take steps to implement Thermal Transition Option 2B.

As I believe you all know, after 14 months of studies and discussions, the thermal transition Task Force submitted a report recommending that option one, business as usual be rejected in favor of Option 2B: Conversion to an electrode steam boiler that would significantly reduce our campuses’ greenhouse gas emissions. 

So that was back in early 2024. Here we are two years later, choosing Option 1, Business As Usual, by default. What happened? Why has this process stalled? I don’t see communications around this issue. I haven’t heard what’s going on with it. 

And I’m concerned that we’re now taking steps backward by launching a methane gas turbine pilot program that will increase UO’s greenhouse gas emissions. These are climate issues. These are public health issues. And as a United Academics member, I have to point out this is a shared governance issue.

The ASUO student government issued a resolution calling for Option 2B. As you’ve just heard, United Academics joins with students in calling for this thermal transition, the task force that was convened by UO’s president–and that included two members of this board as well as CFO Jamie Moffitt–recommended that we take action on Option 2B. 

So why is action not being taken? Why are all these voices from the community being ignored?

The University of Oregon ought to be a leader in going green. The PR campaign writes itself, right? We already have a top-notch environmental studies program, a Center for Sustainable Business Practices, a student sustainability center, an environment initiative event series, UO sustainability awards.

So why on earth are we continuing to heat our campus by unsustainably burning fossil fuels? Why is the UO still the biggest source of climate-polluting emissions in Eugene? 

As for where the money comes, you just heard students who are offering their own money in support of this, where there is a will, there is a way. The students have the will, we faculty have a will.

We want to see the will from the board, from our administrators, to take action on this. 

And I would point out that this could be a great opportunity for someone of financial means to make a very impactful donation that would be greatly appreciated by the entire University community. 

So my question is, will you work with the administration to take action on this issue and implement Option2B right away? And I’d appreciate a response to that question. Thank you. 

Presenter: Victoria Robinson:

Victoria Robinson: Hello, my name is Victoria Robinson. I’m in my fourth year at the University of Oregon. I’m majoring in comparative literature and religious studies. As I prepare to graduate, I’m reflecting on my time here, which has been marked by disappointment with University administration…

Today I’m disappointed by the University’s use of gas boilers to heat our campus. I stand behind the Climate Justice League’s demand and the Thermal Transition Tax Force recommendation to implement Thermal Transition Option 2B as quickly as possible, and to take additional effects to decarbonize campus and reduce UO’s climate impact.

Presenter: Flora Booker:

Flora Booker: My name is Flora and I’m a senior and a member of the Climate Justice League on campus.

I wanted to start by reading a few quotes directly from the University of Oregon’s sustainability website: ‘The University of Oregon is a national leader in campus sustainability. The UO is actively engaged in greening facility operations and the UO works to reduce our ecological footprint, advance renewable energy, and address pressing environmental issues.’

So these are the wonderful values that our University claims to uphold, and they’re the same values that drew many of us (myself included) here.

But despite this green branding, the reality is very different. The University of Oregon is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in all of Eugene.

For over a decade, as you all are well aware, students, staff, and community members have been asking for divestment from fossil fuels. Instead, University leadership has doubled down on fossil fuel infrastructure, putting our health, our community, and Eugene’s climate goals at risk.

The UO’s pilot project would increase campus emissions by 65% despite the University’s own studies showing that there are far better alternatives such as heat pump systems. Beyond the environmental impacts, the lack of transparency around the pilot project contradicts the University’s commitments to shared governance.

Students have been kept in the dark and community members’ questions have been deflected. A just transition requires transparency and community collaboration. So I’m asking you, please follow through on your climate commitments by ending the pilot project and divesting from fossil fuels.

Presenter: Morgan Clemmer:

Morgan Clemmer: Hi, My name is Morgan Clemmer. I am the chair of the Student Planning and Construction Committee, a steering member of the Climate Justice League, and a student employee at the Student Sustainability Center. 

In my work with the SPCC this year, which has been developing a proposal to use student money to fund the thermal transition, I’ve been continually frustrated by the unnecessary administrative roadblocks and the general lack of transparency.

In our meeting with various administrators and this board’s own Kody Kelleher, we were met with the same stalling tactics as always, and it’s frankly insulting. Instead of having an open and honest conversation, you hide behind obscure procedures and statutes, problems that would’ve been avoided months before if we had transparent access to the inner workings of our own University.

It is an obvious attempt to further stall the thermal transition despite us trying to offer student money to pay for it.

This University claims to be at the forefront of innovation and progress, that it cares about sustainability and the health and safety of its students. But the University I see is stuck in the past.

Instead of being accountable to its students and faculty, like a true public university, our University is controlled by this nonelected board that time and time again shows its only concern is profit.

I ask you, profit for who? For nameless investors hidden behind proprietary secrets, or for the students who invest their hard-earned tuition dollars and research in this institution?

Instead of blindly focusing on the numbers in a bank account, I ask you to look at profit as a measure of learning and discovery, which can only happen when students feel safe and supported by their University.

Every on-campus leader I’ve talked to about trying to work with the board shows the same frustrations: You continually stall projects that you don’t want to deal with, while giving a fast track to the shiny, often much more expensive projects that help PR. 

We need financial transparency in order to create a future UO that we can all take pride in. It’s time to stop messing around. Decarbonize our campus heating system.

Presenter: Andrew Simrin:

Andrew Simrin: My name is Andrew Simrin. I’m a lifelong resident of Eugene, born in the University District here. 

And I’m coming before the board about its energy use, specifically with the boiler to distribute steam throughout the University. We really do need to decarbonize that.

I love the community here. I love riding my bike. I ride it by the power plant frequently, and I was very disturbed to learn that the University is considering a pilot project or potentially a power purchase agreement with EWEB, with a turbine that they have on campus. 

And that is also something I’m very concerned about because it would increase the localized pollution and among all the other bad things that come with burning fossil fuels, we also see the geopolitical powers at play affecting fuel prices. 

And we probably expect further instability. So really rapidly decarbonizing is a way to reduce some of that risk even globally, outside of climate. 

But the climate piece is one of the more important ones here. So I urge you to please electrify the steam distribution system with the boiler.

The technology’s here, and it’s getting more and more affordable, and please do not pursue any power purchase agreements or selling of excess electricity to EWEB or selling excess capacity, not excess electricity necessarily, but extra capacity that’s not needed immediately. 

Presenter: Jack Dodson:

Jack Dodson: I’m Jack. I’m an undergrad here and I’m a member of the Climate Justice League. And all the times I’ve sat across from you at these meetings, I’ve never gotten to ask this: Why are you here? Why are you on this board? 

You all have achieved plenty in your lives and none of you have to be here. So I really hope that for some of you, you wanted to have a positive impact.

If this is the case, awesome. Are you having that impact? You show up once a term, listen to a bunch of drawn-out presentations, and then leave town until you’re called back in three months. There are a lot of serious issues here.

For starters, UO remains the largest source of climate heating emissions in Eugene, and you continue to delay action despite having solutions.

Additionally, admin just announced a pilot project that would raise campus emissions, and this has little transparency and no opportunities for public input. 

Also, admin won’t even commit to protecting students from ICE. In fact, they’ve threatened conduct code violations against students who would protect their classmates from being abducted. That is shameful. You want to talk about trust? It’s no wonder our trust in this institution is declining.

But anyways, you’re here and hopefully you want to do good. So do something. Put some effort into resolving one of these issues. 

For example, if UO’s embarrassing, climate inaction concerns you, hound everyone around you until this gets resolved. Use your power to force change. Don’t just forget about this when this meeting ends. 

Implement thermal transition Option 2B, and suspend the pilot project until there are public accountability structures in place. 

Also I do seriously support the idea to bring up the thermal transition at the next Board of Trustees meeting, and I hope that will happen.

Presenter: Lisa:

Lisa: Hello. I am an undergrad studying psychology here at this university, and in doing that I learn about group dynamics and power structures, how we interact with and influence each other.

By becoming a trustee, you have taken on a role of responsibility and power. So take this moment please to think critically about the system that you’re perpetuating and about the role that you serve on the board, as well as the role of the board itself.

Why does the Board of Trustees exist?

Did members still sitting on the board today lobby for it—with political action committees in order to privatize our University and take power away from students and faculty?

Does it make sense to have an appointed board that has yet to show commitments to financial transparency and shared governance? 

But right now, I am asking you to use your power while you have it. Please take action to protect our communities in a couple of different ways.

For one, and this one is so easy, protect our campus community from ICE. Use our campus alert system to warn people about ICE activity. The system is intended for reporting dangerous crime in the area, so it should already encompass ICE activity.

Second, I’m asking you to follow through on taking climate action by canceling the boiler pilot program.

I see this program as a slippery slope that cements our city and University’s reliance on fossil fuels when we must do the opposite. You have the ability to choose Option 2B as recommended by the Thermal Transition Task Force, and reduce our campus heating system emissions by 45%.

This pilot program is the opposite of what students, faculty, unions, and community members want. This is a bad look for a supposedly ‘green’ university. I urge you to divest from harmful profit-driven industries, listen to our unions, and thank you for your time. 

Presenter: Brian Booth:

Brian Booth (EWEB): I am Brian Booth, energy resource officer at the Eugene Water and Electric Board, speaking on behalf of EWEB. 

EWEB is of course the University of Oregon’s electricity and water retail provider, and we have a very long and positive relationship with the University of which we are most proud.

I am also here today to speak about the the boiler pilot agreement, and also EWEB’s role in the energy transition.

We are in many ways a leader in that we own or have contracted for carbon-free resources equal to about 125% of our needs on an-annual basis.

We are highly reliant on hydropower, wind power, but of course when the water flows and when the wind blows doesn’t exactly line up with when people consume electricity.

So if you do the math, just about 94% of our overall needs are actively supported by those carbon-free resources.

In the Northwest and for EWEB in general, there are times when those resources are simply inadequate. Those times are the deepest, darkest, coldest moments of the winter. 

A time of stress, one that we walked right up against during the ice storm two years ago. This is a problem that is getting worse. Loads in the Northwest are growing very quickly.

Here in Eugene our primary driver of that load growth is electric vehicles, which I’m very proud to say are growing (on a per capita basis) probably faster than anywhere else in the Northwest. 

Last year, 1,500 new EVs were registered here in Eugene, which is a lot for Eugene, and we’re forecasting that number to grow to north of 50,000 total EVs in the next 10 years.

However, those moments, in the deepest, darkest cold of the winter continue to be a stress on us. We simply are not in the greater Northwest building resources fast enough to meet those needs. For many reasons, it is slow to build new power plants while it is very quick to consume more electricity.

In my view, this pending pinch during the winter is the single greatest threat to the energy transition. If we are going to persuade the tens of thousands of Eugene homes that need to electrify to choose electricity, we need to compete on performance and cost and reliability.

If we allow a reliability event in the Northwest to occur—rolling blackouts, or even worse, cascading outages like they saw in Texas five years ago where over a million homes experienced frozen pipes and 250 people lost their lives—it will be at best a branding disaster for electricity.

In addressing this gap, we have asked our largest customers to help us, and the University of Oregon has answered that call. We are actively negotiating demand response agreements with our largest customers. 

We intend to offer to the University of Oregon time-of-use rates later this year to help take the stress off those peak moments.

And we were very quickly able to negotiate this pilot agreement with the University of Oregon, to have access to their high-efficiency combined heat and power plant. This plant during the absolute peak moment of the winter could provide reliable power for over 2,000 Eugene homes, and it is a very, very appreciated tool.

I’m here, again, just to say thank you. In my view, the University has been tremendously good partners in this endeavor.

We all agree that natural gas is not the long-term solution, but it is unfortunately an emergency solution that we feel compelled to use at this moment in time. Thank you again, and thank you to the University of Oregon staff who’ve been tremendous partners in this. 

Presenter: Curtis Blankinship:

Curtis Blankinship: I’m Curtis Blankinship. I’ve had a LEED certification since 2002 and I’ve paid property taxes here in Lane County since 1985 and lived off and on here since then. And I just want to talk about the boiler project…

So prices on energy are only going up. You need to be self-sufficient. I can tell you as a sustainable designer, all this technology is out there. I’d like to see you go further and use rooftop solar and water storage batteries. Studies have been done on this. It’s all doable.

It’s just going to get worse. You’re going to end up dependent and pass on cost to student tuition.

You know, the U of O sustainability program is why I bought property in this town. One of the main reasons I bought property in this town is because you were the place where ‘The Oregon Experiment,’ a famous book on sustainability by Christopher Alexander called ‘The Oregon Experiment’ was done here because you have been on the forefront and the state of the art of sustainability.

So please, rethink this fossil-fuel dependence you have. There’s technology out there that other campuses are using that you can look at. I’ve sent you information on this, that they’re reducing the fossil fuel using the existing system, steam system you have, using that to cut emissions by 50%.

But I’d like to see you do what the students want here. 

Presenter: Public comments ask the University to support its environmental reputation by taking action on climate change. As Jeff Schroeder said:  ‘The University ought to be a leader in going green. The PR campaign writes itself.’

And KEPW’s Curtis Blankinship notes that the Board of Trustees is debasing the University’s hard-earned sustainability brand. 

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You can hear Curtis Blankinship and ‘Talk Is Cheap’ every Saturday at 4 p.m. on KEPW 97.3.