Hundreds of faculty, staff, alumni and students at Memorial University are opposed to an apparent about-face on the university’s recent pledge to fight climate change.
This, following what an open letter calls the “open-ended” public support MUN President Vianne Timmons provided for the province’s oil and gas industry.
You can read the open letter here.
The letter indicates that while academics welcomed the president’s recognition of the “central role” MUN plays in advancing the interests of the province as a whole, they were “concerned and dismayed” at the apparent “open-ended support” Timmons expressed for the offshore oil and gas industry.
According to the letter, that marks a departure from both the university’s recent pledge to take action on climate change and the sanctity of academic freedom, independent of corporate or political pressure.
They say Timmons’ comments leave them questioning how seriously senior leaders at Memorial take their commitment to combating climate change.
They go on to point out that seeking a subsidy for oil and gas will lessen available funds for innovation in new, environmentally-sustainable industries and fields of study.
They’re calling on MUN to recommit to the Crisis Pledge to take meaningful action on climate change, and avoid further open-ended statements.
