Sunrise UNC calls for an end to University use of coal-powered electricity at rally

On Thursday, the student organization Sunrise UNC — a local chapter of the national Sunrise Movement — held a rally on the steps of South Building demanding an end to UNC's continued use of coal-powered electricity.

The University uses coal and natural gas to create energy at their cogeneration facility on Cameron Avenue. The facility produces steam for power and other various uses on campus. Currently, the facility is operating with approximately 40 percent coal power and 60 percent natural gas use. 

UNC students and faculty have been advocating against the facility since its inception in 1940 — originally voicing concerns about its appearance and later its environmental impact and contributions to climate change. 

In 2019, the University conducted a major restoration of the facilities to increase natural gas capabilities. The expansion allowed natural gas use at the facility to grow from 25 percent in 2019 to today’s around 60 percent. 

Despite this renovation, however, the burning of fossil fuels, specifically on-campus stationary combustion, still accounted for approximately 50 percent of UNC’s carbon emissions in 2023.

The cogeneration facility has yet to move away from coal use. However, the facility is hoping to begin the testing of alternative fuels, pending approval of a modification to their Title V permit.

The Sunrise Movement is a national political organization of youth leaders who advocate for government action in response to climate change. Additionally, they tackle issues such as racial inequality and workers’ rights, aiming to make change through political pressure. 

While holding signs appealing to the University to close the coal plant and divest from fossil fuels, participants stood quietly in their black and yellow shirts as various members of their leadership gave speeches.

Talia Wilson, a climate organizer for the group, spoke about the recent devastation in Asheville and western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene, using it as an example of the unpredictable effects of climate change. Asheville was previously considered a climate haven — a region untouchable by the effects of climate change — but scientists are now saying that no place is safe. 

“If this situation doesn’t spell it out, let me," Wilson said. "The climate crisis is here, it is real and it is bad, and it affects all of us."

Wilson and Shiva Rajbhandari, the organizing coordinator for Sunrise UNC, both blamed the University for climate change and fossil fuel related deaths and destruction, citing the carbon emissions and health risks associated with coal use.

“End reliance, end all reliance, on fossil fuels at our University. That means immediately closing the coal plant, or the so-called cogeneration facility,” Kat Leedy, another leader of Sunrise UNC, said.

Along with this demand, the group also called for Chancellor Lee Roberts and the UNC Board of Trustees to implement the Green New Deal, a set of benchmarks aimed at combating climate change. Originally, the Green New Deal was a resolution proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives that outlined certain goals for achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The resolution never passed the senate, but its proponents, such as the Sunrise Movement, still push for its use at every level of government.

“I think public universities represent a strong model for what the expansion of the public sector that’s required to stop the climate crisis can look like,” Rajbhandari said.

During the rally, Sunrise UNC leaders laid out several examples of what the Green New Deal could look like on campus. Along with ending the use of fossil fuels, they suggested creating comprehensive climate education, uniting environment and climate focused programs into one department, improving accessibility on campus and public transport, addressing the Chapel Hill housing shortage, diversifying both the student body and staff and more.

Sunrise UNC ended the rally by delivering a letter outlining their demands to University administration from them and like-minded organizations.

“The priorities of this University must change,” the letter says in bold.

When asked to comment on the letter and its contents, UNC Media Relations said in an email statement that it had received the letter and would be reviewing it.

“The University is on record clearly articulating a commitment to end coal use at the Cameron Avenue Cogeneration Facility as soon as feasible as part of our 2021 Climate Action Plan, which moved up the target for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by a decade to 2040,” they wrote.

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