In solidarity with a global day of climate action, students and community members held a rally at UNC on Friday. Student leaders called for the university to divest from fossil fuels and shift toward renewable energy sources.
Students gathered in the pit, holding signs reading “dismantle the system” and “the climate is changing, why aren’t we?” to demand action from their peers, local government and the university.
Here at the UNC Climate Strike for @WCHLChapelboro. This strike is in solidarity with climate protests taking place all over the world today as part of the Fridays for Future movement. pic.twitter.com/nT6Qp4MiMP
— Ben Rappaport (@b_rappaport) September 24, 2021
Ember Penney is a first-year student at UNC and one of the organizers of the rally. She said there are climate issues locally and abroad, so climate action is needed at all levels.
“I think it’s important to come out on the same day across the world because it really shows a sense of solidarity,” Penney said. “Even though I don’t know the people striking in Europe or Africa or Asia, we all live on the same planet, and this is all going to affect us. I think it’s cool that everyone of all ages is coming out.”
While climate change is a global issue, Penney said there are things Chapel Hill can do to make a difference. One of the things she and other rally leaders called for is a divestment from UNC’s cogeneration power plant on Cameron Avenue, which uses coal.
Margot Francini is also a first-year student at UNC and the coordinator of Earth Uprising Chapel Hill, an advocacy group that organized the rally. She said the coal plant is especially destructive because it hurts the most vulnerable communities.
“Here in Chapel Hill, we have an egregious example of environmental injustice,” Francini said. “It’s laden in the fact that we have a coal burning power plant on campus. It’s situated on the periphery of UNC’s campus, surrounded by low income housing in the community called Pine Knolls and most of its emissions affect a historically BIPOC community called Northside.”
Margot Francini explains the harm of UNC’s cogeneration power plant on Cameron Avenue while fellow demonstrators hold a map of Chapel Hill with the power plant.
Francini called upon the UNC System Board of Governors to divest from the coal plant by 2030. The BOG said in 2010 that it would switch to renewables by 2020, but failed to meet that goal.
UNC’s most recent Climate Action Plan, released in April, said the university aims to be carbon neutral by 2040, and aims to move “away from coal as quickly as is technically and financially feasible.”
Chapel Hill Town Council member and mayoral candidate Hongbin Gu was also at the rally. She agreed with demonstrators’ assessment that local institutions aren’t doing enough.
“We need to move forward with our initiatives,” Gu said. “Try to reduce the emissions and add this urgency in our action plan to really shape this town and shape this community into something that’s more resilient more inclusive. It’s a better future for everyone.”
Student demonstrators stand in the pit at UNC holding signs urging climate action.
Francini said she believes both the university and the Chapel Hill government need to do more to address the imminent threat of climate change. She believes it’s important for this movement to be youth-driven.
“I knew about climate change when I was nine. Ever since then it’s been a part of me,” Francini said. “So, I feel like if you get exposed to the issue at a young age and you envelop it into your values, then you get a more sustained commitment to the movement throughout your life. That’s really important if we want to have a sustainable future.”
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