About 35 people participated in a “die-in” next to the O Desk in the EMU at 11:30 this morning to protest UO’s lack of action for climate change. The campaign is called “CAP the Carbon.”
The group, called the University of Oregon Climate Justice League’s (CJL), included students who wore black and laid on the floor around the O Desk in the shape of an oil or natural gas droplet for 10 minutes to signify their “deaths.”
Protesters held banners that read “Keep your promise @UO. Natural gas is a no.” “Off fossil fuel,” and “#Capthecarbon.”
Students are wearing black and are arranged in the shape of an oil drop to represent UO’s dependance on fossil fuels. (Frankie Benitez/Emerald)
UO spokesperson Tobin Klinger wrote in a statement to the Emerald, “The University is deeply committed to the environment and keeps related issues on top of mind in all its facilities and construction projects.”
“We have a strong track record on this topic but are always open to input on ways to continue to improve. We applaud the passion of our students around this critical issue facing the planet,” Klinger wrote.
“We at Climate Justice League and a coalition of other environmental groups on campus are staging a die-in to protest the UO’s failure to meet or to make any effort to follow the climate action plan that they put into place,” Dylan Plummer, event coordinator for the Climate Justice League, said.
“In particular, we are demanding them to switch from using liquid natural gas to heat their buildings to an electric boiler,” Plummer said.
He handed out fliers to anyone passing by. The fliers contained information about the Climate Justice League’s mission and reason for staging the protest. The fliers indicated the Climate Action Plan that was put into place by the UO in 2009.
Plummer indicated frustration with administration. “We have been in communication with administration for the last three or four years trying to encourage them to make changes and make efforts to be more carbon neutral and they have refused to meet with us. Even when they do meet with us they shrug us off,” he said.
According to the event’s Facebook page, “The UO consistently markets itself as a ‘green institution’ and a leader on environmental issues…when in reality the UO has failed to meet its own sustainability goals and blatantly ignores its own contributions to global climate change.”
Students protest UO’s failure to reduce carbon emissions on campus. (Frankie Benitez/Emerald)
