Sierra Club pushes for coal-free UNC

Bobby Hurd takes a picture of sophomore Allison Cox as part of Sierra Club’s photo petition against coal use. DTH/Lauren Vied

Due to a reporting error, this story contains a quote with incorrect information. UNC is not the only university in North Carolina with a coal-powered plant for its own use. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Children don’t want coal in their stockings, and the Sierra Club wants it out of UNC.

Tuesday marked the club’s National Day of Action, an organized day of protests against coal use, which took place on dozens of campuses across the country.

It follows closely on the heels of a Sept. 16 protest where the Sierra Club, one of America’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organizations, announced its Coal-Free Campus campaign.

Laura Stevens, an organizer with the Sierra Club, explained the group’s position.

“Stopping the burning of coal is the most critical step to stopping global warming,” she said. “Coal is the dirtiest energy source we could possibly be using­ — especially when we have so many other resources.”

Students spent Tuesday afternoon creating a photo petition to send to Chancellor Holden Thorp, urging him to eliminate coal use at UNC. They took photographs with thought bubbles expressing anti-coal statements.

The University has laid out numerous plans to move away from coal use, including a long-term Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gases.

In response to the protest earlier this month, Thorp sent a letter to the Sierra Club last week outlining UNC’s efforts to become coal-free.

“The coal-fired boilers that give us the advantage of cogenerating power must use solid fuel, so we cannot make significant change (such as a switch to all natural gas) overnight,” Thorp wrote. “But we are well on our way to moving beyond coal.”

Sierra Club members and student protestors are pushing the school to work faster.

“We applaud Chancellor Thorp’s goal to replace 20 percent of coal with biomass by 2025,” Stevens said. “But we want a firmer commitment.”

Chris Moffitt, junior and media outreach consultant for the club’s campaign at UNC, expressed the importance of the campaign.

“We believe coal is the worst pollutant,” he said. “This is showing that the University really wants to move away from coal.”

The UNC Cogeneration Facility, a power plant a half-mile off campus, burns coal and natural gas. It produces about 320,000 tons of pollutants a year, Sierra Club members said.

That’s equal to 50,000 cars on the road, Moffitt said.

The plant generates steam that is used for heating, sterilization and hot water heating across campus and UNC Hospitals.

Sophomore Ashley Gunsteens, and junior Bobby Hurd were two of the student interns working on the photo petition Tuesday.

“We’re trying to move beyond coal to 100 percent clean energy — biomass and solar energy,” Hurd said.

Gunsteens said she thought UNC was the only university in North Carolina to have a coal plant for its own use.

“I really think it’s an important cause that a lot of people don’t know about,” Moffitt said. “The University uses coal and a lot of it.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.