Fenya Bartram '25 is a Cornell alum with a degree in Environmental Engineering and a climate activist with Cornell on Fire.
I am looking into graduate schools for energy and climate research. There were some options that initially sounded promising as opportunities to contribute to the clean energy transition, like the Princeton ZERO Lab. But then I learned that they receive funding from fossil fuel companies such as BP, Chevron, Exxon and Shell. I feel conflicted. How am I supposed to conduct research to aid the transition away from fossil fuels when the industries that yield influence over this research are benefiting from fossil fuels’ continued use?
During my time in undergrad at Cornell, I frequently came face to face with such contradictions. As discussed in the documentary Merchants of Doubt, powerful fossil fuel companies conducted their own research on climate change, then spread misinformation and hindered climate action in order to protect their financial interests in the continued predominance of fossil fuels, in a manner comparable to the tobacco industry’s denial of the health impacts of smoking. I learned about this issue in my classes, and yet fossil fuel interests continue to permeate into research, donations and retirement funds at institutions like Cornell. Research funded by fossil fuel companies continues to create conflicts of interest. It has been found that research produced by centers which receive funding from fossil fuel companies is more likely to be favorable towards natural gas. Therefore, continued acceptance of this funding threatens the independence and integrity of university research. Meanwhile, Cornell's faculty and staff retirement funds are invested in fossil fuels, through TIAA.
However, we are not just helpless passengers on a ship that’s being steered by corporate interests towards climate chaos. The corporations want us to think that we are powerless, but indeed we have agency to resist and hold them accountable. At universities around the world, people are taking action. Cornell on Fire, along with our coalition partners such as Sunrise Cornell, is campaigning for a “fossil-free degree,” a degree earned without supporting the fossil fuel industry. This campaign calls on Cornell to end complicity with the devastating actions of this industry, for instance by addressing conflicts of interest in research funding and giving employees retirement accounts that do not fund the industry.
The disassociation resolution R19 was unanimously passed by the Student Assembly. We aim to pass identical resolutions through all five of Cornell’s governing bodies. According to the guidelines for divestment consideration, this will allow the resolution to bypass President Kotlikoff’s directive and go directly to the Board of Trustees. This is important because President Kotlikoff has only issued a perfunctory acknowledgment to the Student Assembly that does not engage with any of the recommendations provided in the resolution. When these guidelines were set, it was expected that it would be very difficult if not impossible to achieve, given the coordination between the governing bodies that would be required. However, it has been done before for a closely related issue: the University’s decision to divest the endowment from fossil fuels in 2020 on the grounds that they represent a morally reprehensible and injurious investment.
Some may have concerns about the financial impacts of the resolution given that the University is already dealing with cuts to federal funding. However, research by Fossil Free Cornell suggests that refusing research funding and donations from fossil fuel interests would not cause an insurmountable financial challenge because these sources represent a small portion of the University's total funding. A Web of Science examination found that 178 Cornell-affiliated articles, less than 1% of research publications at Cornell over the last 15 years, have been funded by the fossil fuel industry. It is also worth noting that the resolution would cut ties to only new research funding, not existing streams. To address financial issues while protecting workers, organizations such as Cornell Contingent Academic Workers are calling on Cornell to mobilize the endowment. Cutting ties to fossil-fuel funding in retirement funds would make sense financially, because as the University recognized with their 2020 divestment decision, fossil fuels are a losing fiscal strategy. Furthermore, with a national administration hostile towards climate action, it is all the more important that institutions like Cornell lead in pushing for positive change.
During one of our protests, a passerby pointed out that even the concrete on which we walk is made of fossil fuels: they play a central role in our current way of life. But this only strengthens the need for a fossil-free degree. The issue of climate and energy is very messy and complicated, given that our current way of life is so deeply entangled with fossil fuel use that is driving most of humanity’s emissions. But one thing is clear: We need research that will help us understand how to transition away from fossil fuels, while addressing the very real technical and social challenges that come with a just transition. The last thing we need is for research to be swayed towards protecting corporate profits. And while faculty are working hard on this research to curb greenhouse gas emissions, their retirement funding should not be invested in companies which are undermining these efforts.
Universities can provide an important check on the power of industries, for instance through promoting purposeful discovery and free and open inquiry. Yet, partnership with fossil fuel companies, such as receiving research funding and donations from these companies and having retirement funding invested in fossil fuels, undermines their ability to effectively fulfill this role. Students need real climate action leadership. And with pressure, Cornell’s administration can be persuaded to step up. To support our “fossil-free degree” campaign, reach out to us (connect@cornellonfire.org) about supporting our resolution’s passage within the governing bodies.
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