Dear President Schlissel,

As a group that includes the most distinguished faculty at the University of Michigan, we are writing for several reasons.  First, we thank you for establishing the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality [1] to plan the University’s path towards carbon neutrality. As is clear from the 2018 IPCC special report [2], the goal of achieving carbon neutrality is critical for the resilience of society and we are happy to see this manifestation of U-M leadership.

Second, we urge you to reconsider the scope of the Commission by incorporating consideration of 1) the planned expansion of the Central Power Plant [3] and 2) divestment of holdings in fossil-fuel securities from our U-M investment portfolio [4]. While the expansion and upgrade of the Central Power Plant may result in a reduction of direct emissions (scopes 1 and 2), the current calculations from the University do not incorporate the latest science on fugitive methane leaks [5], [6], which may mean that the greenhouse gas savings are actually negligible. The expansion would thus commit the University to years of fossil fuel use [7] without either saving money or reducing emissions.  A genuinely sustainable movement toward carbon neutrality requires a commitment to renewable energy sources and not simply less harmful fossil fuels. Divesting of fossil fuel stocks from our endowment portfolio is necessary for a full accounting of carbon emissions. Offsetting the emissions impacts of these investments by diminishing our on-site emissions would be difficult, if not impossible to achieve. Divestment is also likely to be financially responsible in the long term, given the need to vastly reduce global fossil fuel use. Ethically, including fossil-fuel stocks in our endowment portfolio makes us complicit in supporting an industrial sector that is driving our world into a climate crisis [8].

Third, we urge you to establish a timeline for carbon neutrality now as so many of our peer institutions have already done (e.g., see the Climate Leadership Network [9]). It is clear that the technology exists or is being developed to achieve ambitious goals within the next 10 to 15 years; the gap is the political will. It has, frankly, been embarrassing that our distinguished institution has lagged so far behind our peers in this arena, especially given the immense intellectual resources of our faculty and students to contribute to solutions, both locally and globally. We think it is most appropriate for the University leadership to set the goals and then have the Commission formulate plans to implement them.

Finally, and most immediately, we urge you to engage directly with the University community in discussion of these and related issues. We understand that a town hall with you is being arranged; we hope you will take this opportunity to respond directly to students’ questions without prescreening. We also ask that you reconsider the arrest of students on trespassing charges that occurred during the March 15th climate strike sit-in. As educators, we are proud that our students are seriously and thoughtfully addressing climate change as the “defining scientific, social, and environmental problem of our age” and hope that you will engage with them with the same level of seriousness and thoughtfulness.  


Fill out the fields below and, within 10-15 minutes, your name will be added to the list of signatories found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lDmBCayV1W7avzx0HS5Y0pYvDqS0qpgvca2st0iQxoE/edit?usp=sharing

References:
[1] http://sustainability.umich.edu/carbonneutrality
[2] https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
[3] https://record.umich.edu/articles/central-power-plant-project-moves-ahead-expected-reduce-emissions
[4] https://president.umich.edu/news-communications/on-the-agenda/addressing-climate-change-as-a-powerful-community/
[5] Alvarez, R. A., D. Zavala-Araiza, D. R. Lyon, D. T. Allen, Z. R. Barkley, A. R. Brandt, K. J. Davis, S. C. Herndon, D. J. Jacob, A. Karion, E. A. Kort, B. K. Lamb, T. Lauvaux, J. D. Maasakkers, A. J. Marchese, M. Omara, S. W. Pacala, J. Peischl, A. L. Robinson, P. B. Shepson, C. Sweeney, A. Townsend-Small, S. C. Wofsy, and S. P. Hamburg. 2018. Assessment of methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas supply chain. Science 361:186–188.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6398/186
[6] Howarth, R. W. 2014. A bridge to nowhere: methane emissions and the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas. Energy Science & Engineering 2:47–60.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ese3.35
[7] Pages 3- 4 at- http://sustainability.umich.edu/media/files/Greenhouse%20Gas%20Reduction%20Committee%20Report%202015%20(1).pdf
[8] https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/fight-misinformation/climate-deception-dossiers-fossil-fuel-industry-memos
[9] https://secondnature.org/climate-action-guidance/network/