ASUU kicked off the semester with a town hall on sustainability at the University of Utah. Panelists included Lissa Larsen, the associate director of sustainability and mitigation lead; Allyson Hicks, director of the regulations office; Dr. Cheryl Pirozzi, associate professor of pulmonary studies, Alta Fairbourne, water advocate for the Utah Rivers Council; and Utah state Sen. Nate Blouin.
The panel centered around concerns regarding environmental issues and water usage in Utah.
Climate
Students at the forum raised concerns about sustainability efforts and administrative initiatives on the climate. Several questions focused on the U’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) and its current priorities. Student Grace Christiansen described the definition of sustainability and how it fits into the University’s mission. “At the University of Utah, we should be striving to create innovative leaders that value our environment better for the next generations,” she said.
Other students questioned accountability within the U’s administration and climate team. Christiansen said “transparency and accountability are the first steps for bringing positive societal impact,” and asked the panel why the data on the University’s water usage was not publicly available.
Student Diego Ize-Cedillo questioned the absence of sustainability in President Taylor Randall’s 2030 mission statement. “How is it possible that sustainability is not once mentioned in President Taylor Randall’s mission for 2030 when it was mentioned in previous years’ strategies?” he said.
In response, Alexis Lee, lead for resilience on the Climate Action Plan, said the plan’s directors “were not consulted on the 2030 plan” regarding the removal of climate initiatives.
Water
Many also brought concerns about water usage in Utah. When asked about the university’s continued high water usage, despite decreasing usage by 55 million gallons since 2022, Larsen said that the U’s water usage depends heavily on the season.
“You can’t just say, hey, you have to use less water this month,” Larsen said. “July was super hot, there’s less precipitation and the U has committed to new construction. Around May, there is a lot of feedback about graduation and making sure that the university looks good then. So those are all real concerns that we’ve been addressing.”
Other concerns were about the Great Salt Lake. Fairbourne said that it would be “physically impossible” to restore the Great Salt Lake to healthy levels by the 2038 Winter Olympics. The Utah legislature has said it will restore the lake to “healthier” levels by 2034 after $200m in promised donations.
Blouin said that if nothing changes by the time of the 2038 Olympics, Utah risks “looking stupid.” “The Olympics would be the best example of an opportunity we have to bring the world in [to Utah] to show off, and if the hills are brown, like they are right now, we jeopardize the success of the games,” Blouin said. “[We] also just risk looking stupid, because this place looks horrible and folks are here, and you can’t dress that up. You’ve got to take action.”
Fairbourne called the effort to save the Great Salt Lake a “marathon.” “Right now, we’re suing the state of Utah over their failure to protect the Great Salt Lake under public trust doctrine,” Fairbourne said. “Mono Lake was the same; the lake was drying up, and they sued over the public trust, and they were actually able to save the lake from declining over that litigation.”
Change
Larson said that the Climate Action Plan team would “prioritize” student concerns that were raised during the forum.
Blouin said that he would implement environmental initiatives in his approaching campaign, including a return to geothermal for energy development.
Larson said that it was “nice to have a panel on sustainability” because it is “validating to know that students care.”
Lee said members of the Climate Action Plan team felt “reaffirmed” in their work and the university’s direction on climate action. She said the forum demonstrated that students care about the sustainability efforts at the U.
Roman Fisher, a student at the U, who participated in the forum, said public discussions have value. “Public forums on sustainability draw attention to administrators and show that young people and students care about environmental issues — and that they have power,” Fisher said.
