Cornell on Fire Weekly 6/12: On disruptive action

Dear Cornell on Fire,

Our banner action last Friday calls for two confessions and a question: what constitutes disruptive action?

A personal confession: I’ve never been interested in class reunions. But last week, my 16th Cornell anniversary suddenly seemed unmissable. On my way to register, I walked the Beebe Lake bridge where we did not not break the prohibition on jumping 20 years ago. I navigated the familiar halls of Robert Purcell Community Center where the Daily Sun still beckons from neat stacks. I paid my registration fee and slipped a few climate action cards respectfully among the programs. 

And then, a duly registered alum, I joined my Cornell on Fire colleagues in welcoming alumni to campus with two banner actions laying bare Cornell’s alarming climate doublespeak.

Our main event: Entertain a captive audience of 1200+ alumni in line for the Bailey Hall Olin Lecture featuring Andrew Ross Sorkin, who has analyzed the role of Big Money and Big Oil in the climate crisis. The line kept up a brisk pace and so did we, handing out hundreds of educational materials for Cornellians’ climate awareness.

Before that, our first stop was the carbon capture panel hosted by the admirable Atkinson Center. When we arrived, a Cornell Development staff member kindly welcomed us and noted that her office is aware of our work. As we prepared to listen to the panel, she asked nervously: “Um….what are you planning…to do? We’ve worked very hard on this event.”

We assured her that, like our colleagues, we were here to learn and educate with no plan to be disruptive.

Here’s the collective confession of those of us who were present: We don’t like to be disruptive either. None of us signed up for “Socially Awkward Encounters 101” as freshmen. None of us happened to specialize in marketing, PR, costume wear, or stunt work. (We would be delighted if anyone with these skills would like to help elevate the show next time!) 

But despite all that, we were still amazed that a popular lens for viewing our work could be one of disruption.

Here’s the question posed by our movement’s existence: 

Why is it “normal” for an Ivy League University to emit over 750,000 mtCO2e per year (in reported categories alone) and claim to be a climate leader – but it’s “disruptive” to call out that devastating and costly hypocrisy? 

Why is it “normal” for an institution to obscure the full scope of emissions from natural gas and claim (inaccurately) that they’ve reduced emissions by half – but “disruptive” to point to the New York Climate Act and the science to demand that Cornell report all natural gas emissions on their Baseline Inventory?

Why is it “normal” to design and track a Climate Action Plan that ignores 70% of the reported campus carbon footprint – but “disruptive” to ask for a comprehensive plan that addresses all of Cornell’s carbon pollution?

Why is it “normal” to accept vast sums of money from fossil fuel executives like the Meinig family, allowing them to direct spending efforts and chair the next Provost search – but “disruptive” to suggest that this is not in keeping with committed climate leadership?

And most of all: Why is it “normal” for Cornell to echo Big Oil’s doublespeak on all the above points and more – but “disruptive” to point this out and call for a course correction? If the Senate Budget Committee and Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability find these practices problematic coming from Big Oil, why don’t we find them problematic coming from Cornell? 

The fact is, Cornell’s business-as-usual approach is the disruptive element. The University is emitting and consuming full speed ahead towards climate disruption on a scale grander and more devastating than anything we could ever instigate with a banner and two bear costumes.

In any case, we did not disrupt the panel. Climate-minded alumni were cordially greeted with business cards (or rather “business not as usual” cards) as they departed with pastries in hand. We chatted with a Trustee, Development Staff, Atkinson Center colleagues, and interested alumni. We were told that the trustees and deans are "talking about us." (Evidently, their talk has not yet converted to action.) 

On Saturday, I put down our banner (but not all of our business cards) and attended Fun in the Sun on the Arts Quad with our kids. It was fun! We saw some of our favorite people ever. We marveled at the marching band. Joey Gates and her amazing Dish Truck saved us from single-use disposables in our pursuit of Big Red treats. We realized why some Cornellians come back to town every half decade…

…and contemplated that all of this hangs in the balance. 

Alumni events are fast becoming places where nostalgia meets solastalgia. As we look back upon all that we enjoyed, we cannot ignore that our riches came at a steep cost – a cost being paid by our very own children and growing worse with time. On Friday, I overheard a mother my age telling her two kids: “THIS is the dorm where I lived freshman year!” They looked quite neutral, to be honest. And so they should. Their futures are on track to be defined by events vastly more dramatic than which dorm they get assigned to. Climate breakdown is accelerating. Humanity has a slim grasp on survival. 

The disruptive truth is: we are not doing nearly enough to create a future fit for life on earth. As we relive our glory days, we must ask ourselves today: are we honoring our moral obligation as the last generation who can act to preserve life on earth as we know it?

Join the work of bringing those questions home to Cornell and Ithaca:

• Tell Cornell to declare a climate emergency: Sign our demands.

• Sign and share the Zero Waste Ithaca petition against Cornell’s plan to install artificial turf at the proposed Meinig Athletic Field House and beyond.

• Join our CoF Zoom meeting TODAY, Wednesday, June 12, 6:30-8:00pm with this permanent link.

• Join a research project to help Cornell realize its climate goals (can be done from anywhere).

One wonders what, if anything, the Class of ‘24 will do for their 50th reunion if our current course is not radically disrupted.

Nondisruptively,

Cornell on Fire

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Plurivocality: CoF Weeklies are written by a revolving team of writers. Our movement is diverse, so are our thoughts, and so will be our Weeklies. If you receive a CoF Weekly 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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