In late 2024, the University of Massachusetts Amherst officially jettisoned its plans for a Carbon Zero campus by 2032. Instead, in a presentation to the Faculty Senate and other campus organizations, it was announced that the plan was to transition the methane-burning central heating and power plant to “dual fuel” so that it could also burn “renewable” diesel. The use of renewable fuels, and especially renewable diesel, is well known to be driving deforestation worldwide. Renewable diesel is a fuel that could never be called carbon neutral; at worst, it creates more lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than burning petroleum diesel.
The outcry from student groups and the Faculty Senate was loud and immediate: “renewable fuels” used in this way are scientifically and environmentally unsound. not recommended in the 2021 Carbon Mitigation Taskforce Portfolios.
The chancellor responded by putting together a Decarbonization Subcommittee of the Chancellor’s Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) to advise him, with Deputy Chancellor Tilman Wolf at its head. Unlike the more diverse and inclusive Carbon Mitigation Taskforce, this Subcommittee includes only two student representatives and three senate-appointed faculty. Lori Goldner, an author of this letter, was among the original Senate appointees on the Decarbonization Subcommittee, which still operates in secrecy: it does not publish minutes, post agendas or follow democratic processes. Attempts to bring forward a motion or call for a vote on a specific recommendation concerning the use of renewable diesel were not permitted, and we were told that voting is not something the subcommittee does.
Meanwhile, the administration’s actions show that our advice was unwanted. Without even informing the subcommittee, the administration quietly completed the conversion of the central power plant. In a move exclusively announced in a subcommittee meeting, they also started testing renewable fuels while burning 70,000 gallons of “renewable” diesel ordered from Singapore in one boiler in the winter of 2024-25. We have yet to be informed how much was burned last year and if the now-converted central power plant has started to burn diesel.
In response to the poor governance and secrecy, and because of the urgency of decarbonization, the Rules Committee of the Faculty Senate brought forth a resolution to form a Joint Task Force on Carbon Mitigation.
The resolution passed by a voice vote with near unanimity in Dec. 2025. The administration has ignored it and continues to operate the Decarbonization Subcommittee in secrecy.
The administration must respect the Faculty Senate resolution. Outreach, engagement and inclusivity are key components of every successful decarbonization plan. Without an inclusive process, there will never be a plan, let alone action.
Don’t be fooled! There is no “UMass Carbon Zero” plan under this chancellor. Our carbon output increased last year. We are meeting our 2025 state-mandated goal only because this goal is benchmarked against 2004 levels when this campus still burned coal. Yes, new buildings going up are marvels of modern engineering that have wildly reduced carbon footprints because of the new North Energy Exchange Center (NEEC) and Thermal Energy Storage (TES), but they do little to reduce the carbon emissions from existing buildings. They only keep emissions from increasing. We are far from being climate leaders; we are a climate embarrassment, put to shame by the many public and private campuses that are making real progress towards carbon neutrality.
Lori Goldner is professor emerita in physics and former member of the Decarbonization Subcommittee. She can be reached at [email protected]. Ana Smith can be reached at [email protected]. Darcy DuMont is the clerk for Local Energy Advocates of Western Mass. She can be reached at [email protected]. Noy Holland can be reached at [email protected].
