Students and Community Groups Cry Foul As University of Oregon Increases Fossil Fuel Use By Over Fifty Percent

Eugene, Ore.- Students and community groups raised the alarm today after discovering that, on January 6th, the University of Oregon began a pilot project, using an additional large "natural" methane gas turbine to generate electricity to sell to the local publicly owned utility, Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB). The project, which has yet to be publicly announced and did not include any opportunity for public comment, comes after close to ten years of campaigning by student groupsand community organizations to decarbonize the University of Oregon's boiler system, which is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Eugene according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

"For close to ten years, students and community groups have been calling for the University of Oregon to plan to transition its heating system, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Eugene, off of fossil fuels," said Dylan Plummer, a Eugene Resident and the Acting Deputy Director of Sierra Club's Clean Heat Campaign. "Instead of continuing their efforts to transition off of fossil fuels, the University seems intent to expand the use of polluting fracked gas on campus, a move that flies in the face of the City of Eugene's Climate Recovery Ordinance, and their own public climate commitments. It is unacceptable for the University, in collaboration with our public electric utility EWEB, to move forward with a pilot project that will increase climate and air pollution in our city, let alone without any public notice or opportunity for comment."

The large gas turbine will increase the University's fossil fuel use by about 65% according to a statement made by Steve Mital, Director of the University of Oregon's Office of Sustainability. Mital said that on an average January, the system would increase gas use from 43,000 million British thermal units (MMBTU) to 71,000 MMBTU, the equivalent of burning over 4 million pounds of coal according to the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

"The unilateral implementation of this project without meaningful engagement with campus and community stakeholders is an indictment of this administration, and demonstrates the complete lack of accountability to the countless student, faculty and community voices that have been advocating for meaningful climate action from the University for years," said Declan Zupo, a leader with the University of Oregon Climate Justice League. "The Associated Students of the University of Oregon have passed multiple resolutions that make clear that students and their representatives stand firmly in opposition to an expansion of natural gas infrastructure at the University of Oregon. Our heating system is already the largest single source of fossil fuel emissions in Eugene, this pilot will only deepen our University's complicity in the ecological crisis we are facing"

Beyond climate impacts, advocates have raised concerns about the public health implications of dramatically expanding the combustion of fossil fuels in the City of Eugene. Burning methane gas releasestoxic byproducts into the air, including particulates (PM2.5)and nitrogen oxides (NOx)and have significant impacts on public health.

"There is a growing body of research that conclusively shows the significant public health impacts of burning methane gas, linking it to increased risks of respiratory illness, cancer and strokes, among other symptoms" said Jennifer L. Davis, Executive Director of Beyond Toxics. "The University of Oregon and EWEB's pilot to expand gas use at the University will dramatically increase NOx pollution in the heart of our City and threaten public health and safety, yet administrators say they have not even considered the impacts of the pilot to our community's clean air."

Over the past decade, dozens of student groups, community organizationsand elected officials, including the former Mayor of Eugene and members of Eugene's delegation to the state legislature, have encouraged the University of Oregon to decarbonize its gas system. In recent years, the University created a Thermal Systems Transition Study Task Force, which commissioned technical studies exploring pathways to decarbonize the boiler system. The study recommended that the University pursue the electrification of its boiler system at a Board of Trustees meeting in the spring of 2024. Since hearing the recommendation, the Board has taken no action on the matter until rolling out the University's contentious pilot program earlier this year.

"The science is clear that we need to use less fossil fuels, not more. University of Oregon and EWEB committing to more fossil fuel use and expanding their fossil fuel burning infrastructure is deeply concerning and out of alignment with their own climate goals," said Meredith Tufts, Coalition Coordinator with Fossil Free Eugene. "The cost of climate inaction is rising, with communities bearing the brunt of it. Now is the time for institutions like the UO and EWEB to lead the way and make investments in electrification and renewable energy generation."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.