UT Administration: Acknowledge the Climate Crisis and Create a UT Climate Action Plan

When Winter Storm Uri struck Texas, all 254 counties of the state issued winter storm warnings for the first time on record, with some counties experiencing temperatures colder than those in Alaska (1). At the peak of resulting power outages and water distribution disruptions, 4.3 million Texans were without power, and more than 14 million did not have access to safe drinking water (2,3). Like the rest of the state, the University of Texas at Austin community has suffered from the government’s lack of preparation for such an extreme weather event, with many students losing access to basic needs such as food, water, and electricity. While Winter Storm Uri was a singular weather event, it has not escaped the attention of many UT community members who learn and teach about climate change in the classroom: that climate change will continue to exacerbate extreme weather events (4) as it did with Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (5). This disaster shows that Texas desperately needs to mitigate its carbon emissions and update its energy infrastructure to prepare for increasing weather volatility. The University of Texas can lead the energy transition as an influential public institution representing its community. Yet, it still invests money into the fossil fuel industry and amplifies the climate crisis.

The University of Texas System has the second-largest university endowment in the country. As of 2018, this amount was $32.4 billion (6). This money is used for various purposes, but most is invested by UTIMCO (the University of Texas and A&M Investment Management Corporation). UTIMCO is overseen by the UT Board of Regents, which manages policies impacting all UT and Texas A&M schools. Chevron, Exxon Mobil, BP, Saudi Arabian Oil Co, and Royal Dutch Shell are just a few examples of the oil and gas companies that UT supports financially. Furthermore, 90% of the Permanent University Fund, which is the largest of several funds UTIMCO uses to invest, is composed of oil and gas royalties that UT receives from leasing out University Lands for oil and gas extraction (7).

As an educational institution that promises to “transform lives for the benefit of society,” UT has the resources and responsibility to lead the energy transition and drastically reduce its contribution to the climate crisis. The university must demonstrate its dedication to UT student's well-being and their futures. By incorporating the work and research that has already started on campus, UT can become a living laboratory and attract national attention as a leading flagship university in the fight against climate change.

UT Administration, you must respond to our community’s growing needs. Rather than solely applauding “tireless efforts to help one another during the crisis,” (8) you must acknowledge and address the central cause of our struggle: climate change. We have begun the process of understanding our communities needs, and we now call on you to join us in implementing creative solutions to address them.

Citations:
1) Elizabeth Findell and Ken Thomas, “Texas Cities Under Boil-Water Orders,” Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2021, sec. US, https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-cities-under-boil-water-orders-11613671450.
2) “5 Million Americans Have Lost Power After a Devastating Winter Storm,” Time, accessed February 19, 2021, https://time.com/5939633/texas-power-outage-blackouts/.
3) Findell, “Texas Cities”
4) IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.
5) Scott Waldman,ClimateWire, “Global Warming Tied to Hurricane Harvey,” Scientific American, accessed March 1, 2021,
6) UTIMCO. “UTIMCO Implements More Stringent Sanctions Compliance Procedures.” The University of Texas System, 23 Oct. 2018, www.utsystem.edu/news/2018/10/23/utimco-implements-more-stringent-sanctions-compliance-procedures.
7) Olson, Jon. “Hydraulic Fracturing Key to Educational Affordability.” The Daily Texan, thedailytexan.com/2019/03/31/hydraulic-fracturing-key-to-educational-affordability.
8) Received by Jay Hartzell, Lighting the Tower Orange in Honor of Our Incredible Community, 24 Feb. 2021.