CoF Post 4/11: Notes from the above-ground

Written By Cornell on Fire

Dear Cornell on Fire,

If the Cornell administration thinks it’s hard to do research on a $1-billion funding cut, they should try doing research on a dead planet.

American democracy (such as it is) is imperiled. As we fight back, let’s keep the long view and tend to what matters: life on earth.

Federal attacks on funding for climate science and technology prompt us to consider climate scientist Mike Berners-Lee’s thesis: “An increase in truthfulness is more important than technological advances as a solution to climate change and the related threats facing humanity.” 

We ask ourselves: Have our elite institutions been unwaveringly truthful about the unfolding climate emergency and their role in causing it? How have we dealt with dishonesty, semi-honesty, and greenwashing from Cornell’s leaders? 

One way of dealing with the dearth of truth is to raise the cost of the status quo for those who would pursue climate business as usual.  “Above ground risk” is a term of art brought to our attention by Kevin Young in his book Abolishing Fossil Fuels. This term is employed by insurance-company-types to refer to the extra costs of fossil-fuel projects due to…activists. Yes - activists are the “above ground risk.” All those protests, bad publicity, investigative reports, and legal challenges make it more costly to continue with climate business as usual – and more costly to greenwash it.

In that spirit, we share the following notes from the above-ground: 

  • Cornell’s Stakeholders Asked for Climate Action and We’re Still Waiting: We publicly reminded President Kotlikoff that we are awaiting an adequate response on two recent stakeholder requests for climate action: Student Assembly Resolution 20 to improve Cornell’s climate action, and the letters that you, our movement members, delivered to his door to help Cornell stand up for climate science.

  • Positive Pressure: We’re featuring peer institutions that are standing up to Trump and calling on Cornell to do the same. Check out our latest posts and share tips on who we should feature! 

  • The Evidence for Why Cornell Should Not be Exempt from Ithaca’s Fossil-Fuel Phaseout: In continued public education and mobilization around our white paper, we presented to the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council on April 10 and published two pithy graphic summaries explaining the matter. Add your name to the call for Cornell to decarbonize! 

  • In keeping with the times, we’re doing more of our communications on social media. If you’re not already following us on Instagram or Mastodon, you might consider it – these platforms prove quite effective for activism. 

We invite you to join a few above-ground happenings:

  • Every Friday, 11-12:30: Fridays on Fire, a weekly protest to ignite climate action and end climate silence. This low-key protest vigil replaces our prior Office Hours for policy-related reasons, and continues to be a space for climate conversation and conviviality.

Stay tuned for remarkable developments in the coming month, where we will help Cornell live up to its promise of April as “Sustainability Month!”

Still above ground,

Cornell on Fire

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View this blog post’s corresponding Instagram posts about stakeholders, fossil-fuel phaseout, and positive pressure.

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Plurivocality: CoF Posts are written by a revolving team of writers. Our movement is diverse, so are our thoughts, and so will be our posts. If you receive a CoF Post that you think is wrong headed, can we still walk together? (We, like you, sometimes write things we later laugh at!) 

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Cornell on Fire

Cornell on Fire is a campus-community movement calling on Cornell to confront the climate emergency.

Next

CoF Post 3/24: Institutional Voice, meet Activist Voice