Dear UCLA Campus Leaders,

On behalf of the undersigned UCLA Faculty, we write in strong support of UCLA committing to fulfill 100% of its energy needs from clean, renewable sources by 2035. Climate change is a key issue to students, and it is one resulting directly from fossil fuel consumption. We want to live in a future without extreme weather and rising sea levels, not to mention air pollution and other harmful impacts of fossil fuels. Transitioning to clean energy is a crucial step forward in tackling the global climate crisis.

Burning oil, gas, and coal has polluted our air, water, and land for decades. Now it is changing our climate even faster than scientists feared it would. The UCLA campus community is already facing the impacts of fossil-fuel-caused climate change, from wildfire smoke and evacuations, storms and extreme rain events, high heat regulations, and more. We can have cleaner air and healthier, safer communities, but we need to transform the way we produce and consume energy. It is imperative we invest in preventative solutions to protect our communities rather than spend resources trying to alleviate damages later. Therefore, it is important to our campus communities that the UCs take action against climate change by transitioning away from dirty energy like oil and gas and towards clean energy like wind and solar.

We applaud UCLA’s progress towards 100% clean purchased electricity by 2025, but we need to move quicker! We need to move to commit to 100% clean, renewable energy sector-wide by 2035 including transportation and heating and cooling of facilities. As the number one public university in the country, we can and should continue to lead the way on clean energy for other institutions and governments to follow.

We strongly urge UCLA to commit to 100% clean energy by 2035.