Ever since the Chancellor’s promise to cease the use of coal energy at the university, the Sierra Student Coalition has been thrilled about their start to a coal free UNC.  Now Beyond Coal seeks to finish the job, and the rally was just the first step in doing so.  The second phase of the “Beyond Coal” campaign aims to officially remove UNC and all of its ties to dirty coal energy.  The University still has a $2 billion endowment that is partly invested in coal companies that contribute to the dirty and dangerous coal mining and burning. The Sierra Student Coalition hopes to negotiate with the heads of the school and management company and come to an accord that not only makes its investments transparent but also divests its holdings in coal energy companies. Though this will take a lot of work, the success of the rally highlights the support the group has garnered on campus: an essential asset to the campaign. As a well respected university, UNC’s student body has a huge potential to have a large impact and push the school to be more environmentally responsible simply by coming out and expressing their support.

“I’m really excited about all the energy and motivation of this organization,” freshman Jasmine Ruddy said. “I’ve seen a lot of organizations that express a lot of good ideas, but don’t go anywhere with them. The Sierra Student Coalition is one of the most motivated groups on campus; it’s all about action and getting things done.”

Recent articles by the Associated Press and Rolling Stone Magazine have presented the realities of the declining coal industry.  The national scope of these articles and the hard facts they presented reinforced the importance of moving away from risky financial investments in coal and added a new level of urgency to the UNC Beyond Coal Divestment campaign.

The campaign has taken this national recognition and used it as inspiration as it moves forward.

At a recent general body meeting, the group members in attendance participated in a hand written letter drive in order to emphasize the real, human impacts of the destructive coal industry. The students relayed their personal experiences with coal or reasons for getting involved with the Beyond Coal campaign in letters that will be delivered to the Chancellor at the upcoming meeting between the Chancellor and the Beyond Coal group.

Also upcoming are a number of other events that will continue to raise the profile of the divestment issue over the next few months.  In November, Beyond Coal is planning to sponsor a panel of experts on green investing. By raising awareness and building a broad alliance of supporters, the SSC hopes to show the school that if we are ready to stop burning coal on campus, we should make certain that we are not funding the coal industry either.

Several activists inspired the ralliers by sharing their personal stories about the coal industry and explaining that the campaign to move beyond coal to clean energy is among the most important causes on campus and in the country.  Stewart Boss, UNC Sierra Student Coalition Co-Chair, read a copy of the letter that he later delivered to several trustees and the chancellor, and despite the pouring rain the rally was certainly a success.  “Even if there is a hurricane coming we’ll be here to ask the trustees for their support to move the endowment out of coal,” said Sierra Student Coalition organizer Harry Alper, summing up the dedication of the attending students.

The Trustees were impressed as well – board member John Ellison remarked, “Y’all are mighty hearty and you believe in your campaign.”

Students brave the rain and rally in front of the Board of Trustees

You can read the full piece here.

Chancellor Holden Thorp with former Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign director Bruce Nilles in May 2010, announcing UNC's decision to quit coal.

Not so green, after all

Published September 11, 2011 in Opinion

RSVP for the event on Facebook.

Coal is one of the greatest threats to public health in our country. Everywhere it is mined, burned, or disposed of it makes people sick. Two years ago, the Sierra Student Coalition won a campaign to stop burning coal on campus at UNC by 2020. But UNC is still funding coal companies through our endowment. So we’ve launched a campaign to move our endowment money out of the coal industry, and reinvest it in clean, renewable energy.

Bring a friend and join other Sierra Student Coalition volunteers for a movie night to learn more about the coal industry, and get involved in our coal divestment campaign.

Questions: Contact Harry Alper at harry@greencorps.org

Check out the movie, Dirty Business, at www.dirtybusinessthefilm.com

Details/event on Facebook.

Thanks to all the people who came out for I <3 Mountains Week! For those that were unfortunate enough to have missed out, here’s a quick recap:

Starting on March 1st, Coal-Free UNC held “I <3 Mountains Week” to raise awareness about the destructive practice of mountain top removal coal mining. Because, of course, if you heart mountains you try your darndest not to blow them to smithereens.

The week-long event came amidst news that the Red River Coal Company, which provides some of the coal used to power UNC’s cogeneration facility, practices mountain top removal.

We got some attention for our efforts. Check out the articles via the newsobserver and The Daily Tar Heel.

Events included:

• A concert by cellist Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore. The proceeds benefited two organizations who really heart some mountains  – Appalachian Voices and ILovemountains.org.
• A talk by Austin Hall of Appalachian Voices

• AND a Mountain Top Removal Demonstration by Coal-Free UNC artistically reinterpreted in the form of paper mache, the video of which can be seen below.

http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageNavigator/campuses_beyond_coal_petition

And UNC alumni can sign our alumni petition here:

http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageNavigator/campuses_beyond_coal_alumni_petition

Thanks for your support!

Note: this is just the short version. Visit our youtube channel to watch the full length version of the press conference with comments from community member and neighbor to the plant Dr. Pat Leighten, glaciologist and UNC faculty Dr. Jose Rial, and UNC student Stewart Boss.

Today students, faculty, alumni, and community members in support of the Sierra Club Campuses Beyond Coal Campaign at UNC-Chapel Hill turned out by the dozens to the UNC-owned and operated coal-fired steam and power plant. They praised the formation of UNC’s new Energy Task Force that will address energy use on campus and emphasized that the best way for the task force to address energy is to eliminate the use of coal on campus.

Students held signs calling for UNC Chancellor Thorp to “Be a Climate Champ,” and make a commitment to stop burning coal by 2015, at the latest, stating that burning coal was responsible for 63% of campus global warming pollution in 2008.  From start to finish coal is the dirtiest energy source the Carolina could possibly use, said students —from coal mining to burning coal to disposing of coal waste coal destroys the environment and jeopardizes public health.

Keynote speaker at the press conference, Dr. James Hansen, a preeminent scientist on climate change, highlighted the urgency of eliminating coal use at UNC.  “Globally we must phase out coal emissions by 2030 if we are to have any chance of avoiding the worst effects of global warming.  This means that developed nations must be off of coal by 2020, and if Universities like UNC are to take the lead in this pressing issue, they should have replaced coal with other energy sources before then,” said Hansen.

Faculty of Geological Sciences, Dr. José Rial, a glaciologist, reiterated Hansen. “We are running out of time to curb greenhouse gas emissions, if we are not too late already. In my fieldwork I see Greenland’s ice cap melting and breaking apart every year, inducing sea level rise at rates faster than the best models have predicted. If we stop burning coal on campus we will set a great example for the state and the country that will help globally to address the impacts of climate change, and regionally to stop the environmental degradation that coal mining is causing, especially in Appalachia,”  Rial said.

Neighbor to the plant, Patricia Leighten, showed her concern for toxic emissions of UNC’s coal plant. “This plant behind us is the single largest source of air pollution here in Orange County.  Because it burns coal, it emits toxic chemicals including mercury, arsenic and lead into the air we are breathing right now.  This is jeopardizing the health of me and my neighbors and is a major public health issue in the town and county,” Leighten said.

The coal-fired cogeneration plant emits mercury, arsenic and lead, as well as 320,000 tons of greenhouse gases were emitted in 2007, the equivalent of 55,000 standard passenger vehicles’ annual emissions.

Student coordinator of the campaign Felipe Jolles said, “By burning coal here at UNC we are contributing to the devastating impact of coal mining on communities and the environment in Appalachian Virginia; we are jeopardizing the health of the neighbors of the plant because of mercury, arsenic, and lead emissions; and we are putting future generations at risk because of the global warming pollution this plant emits.”

“We believe that UNC can do better than burning coal—a dirty 19^th Century fossil fuel.   The list of universities going coal-free is growing and we don’t want UNC to be left behind in the dust. The Energy Task Force now has the opportunity to address this very important issue of eliminating coal use at UNC,” Jolles said.