Fired for traveling in climate-friendly ways. Protest this outrage.

Support for Dr. Grimalda’s Travel Actions on Behalf of the Climate

To: president@ifw-kiel.de | Moritz.Schularick@ifw-kiel.de | birgit.austen@ifw-kiel.de

To whom it may concern:

We ask that you reconsider your decision to terminate Dr. Gianluca Grimalda's position for his refusal to fly.

We are shocked that Dr. Grimalda has been punished for his refusal to fly. His decision to engage in international research in a manner consistent with a livable planet is in fact the most strategic move any academic could make. In our current climate crisis, every academic who continues to fly in the name of their own career is doing so at the risk of future academics' ability to pursue not only their careers, but their very survival.

Dr. Grimalda's exemplary decision to engage in low-carbon travel is precisely the decision that every academic, every department, every University, and every Institute needs to embrace in their own policies. He should receive an award, not the termination of his employment.

We find it morally reprehensible that Dr. Grimalda has been punished for a decision undertaken to benefit others, on the basis of science, and motivated by unimpeachable ethics. From an observer's perspective, it is clear that Dr. Grimalda's action is fully consistent with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy's own goal, to stop "climate change” and “move away from fossil fuels [that] will lead to profound changes in society and the lifestyles of many people." Dr. Grimalda is upholding the Kiel IfW mission. Are you?

With respect,

bethany ojalehto mays | Cornell on Fire | Mothers Out Front Tompkins

Leila Wilmers | Cornell Postdoctoral Associate, Sociology

Regi Teasley | Retired Sociologist and Activist

Shimon Edelman | Cornell Professor, Psychology

Todd Saddler | Extinction Rebellion Ithaca | Ithaca Catholic Worker

Caroline Levine | David and Kathleen Ryan Professor of the Humanities, Cornell University

Emily Fridlund | Cornell Associate Professor, Literatures in English (Creative Writing)

Michael Charles | Cornell Assistant Professor, Biological and Environmental

Lissa Riley | Cornell Postdoctoral Associate, Neuroscience

John Burger | Cornell T'ai Chi teacher | Extinction Rebellion Ithaca

Jacob Mays | Cornell Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Lisa Levey | Cornell Alum

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