Students protest campus combined heat and power plant at President Johnson’s home

Bella Czajkowski, Jessica Orozco
Sat, 15 May 2021 15:02:17 +0000
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Twelve people gathered outside University President Kristina M. Johnson’s home to protest the construction of a combined heat and power plant on campus at 6 a.m. Saturday. Credit: Jacob Benge | Asst. Sports Editor

Twelve people gathered outside University President Kristina M. Johnson’s house Saturday at 6 a.m. to protest the combined heat and power plant under construction at Ohio State.?

Protesters chanted through a megaphone, banged pots and pans and wrote messages on the sidewalk in front of Johnson’s house. Around 7 a.m., Johnson briefly spoke with organizers outside her home and offered to arrange a future meeting.?

Isabella Guinigundo, a first-year in women’s, gender and sexuality studies and an organizer of the protest, said her discussion with Johnson focused primarily on an individual’s responsibility to reduce carbon emissions and less on large-scale sources of emissions, such as the future combined heat and power plant.?

Some of the demands by the protestors included an immediate end to the construction of the CHP plant, for the university to reinvest money budgeted for the project into renewable energy and an update to the university’s climate action plan.?

The Ohio Power Siting Board approved the construction, operation and maintenance of the natural-gas power plant on West Campus Sept. 17.

The $278-million plant will produce thermal energy and electricity for Ohio State’s main campus, according to the project application. The approval drew criticism from students throughout the proposal process calling on the university to invest in more renewable energy.?

During a Nov. 5 Faculty Council meeting, Johnson said the combined heat and power plant will save about 200,000 tons of carbon per year for the next 10-12 years. She said at that point, the facility will have paid for itself in energy efficiencies and the university may be able to switch to other energy sources, but that option isn’t currently feasible.

Guinigundo said the motive for Saturday’s protest was to “wake President Johnson up” to Ohio Youth for Climate Justice’s goals to stop construction of the university’s natural gas powered plant.

Guinigundo said Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, a statewide organization that seeks change in policies related to climate change, previously hung banners across campus, but the university removed the messages.

“They have shown time and time again that they are not willing to listen to us and they are not willing to take our demands seriously, and so if that’s the case, we’ll keep on coming back and we’ll keep being louder and louder each time,” Guingundo said.

Ally Chitwood, a 2020 graduate and member of Sunrise Columbus, a partner organization to Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, said the combined heat and power plant is detrimental to the air quality and the planet as a whole.

“If they want to be investing in energy they need to be clean about it,” Chitwood said.

University spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email the university shares a passion for sustainability.

“We encourage everyone to join us in reducing energy, food and water waste,” Ben Johnson said.

Protesters wrote messages in chalk on the sidewalk in front of Johnson’s home, including “Planet over profit” and “Wake up President Johnson.”

Johnson told Guinigundo she would be open to more conversations with Ohio Youth for Climate Justice and other sustainability groups at Ohio State, Guingundo said. The protest disbanded shortly after the conversation with Johnson.?

Mary Kidwell and Jacob Benge contributed reporting.