A Coal Conundrum Is Playing Out at Washington U. in St. Louis

Editorials in the student newspaper at Washington University in St. Louis dissect the recently released draft of the university’s sustainability plan and raise an issue that activists on the campus have been making noise about lately: the university’s ties to the coal industry through its Board of Trustees. Steven F. Leer, chief executive officer of Arch Coal Inc., and Gregory H. Boyce, chief executive officer of Peabody Energy, recently joined the board, which has ignited student activists who are opposed to coal energy. (Gary L. Rainwater, the executive chairman of the Ameren Corporation, an electric and gas utility that relies heavily on coal, is also on the board.)

Critics have argued that such ties to big coal run counter to the university’s sustainability commitments — particularly its commitment to cut its emissions. A conference on the future of energy held at the university late last year was protested by some students, and the sponsorship of that conference was criticized in the student paper: “We are … concerned by the fact that promotional materials for the ‘Energy Future’ conference displayed the Washington University in St. Louis logo next to three equally-sized logos of Ameren UE, Arch Coal Inc., and Peabody Energy, all of whose CEOs are members of the university’s Board of Trustees,” said an editorial, raising the possibility that the university has been unduly influenced by the corporate interests of its board. “We are likewise alarmed by the fact that a conference purporting to discuss our ‘Energy Future’ did not include renewable-energy sources.”

In an editorial for the student newspaper, Cyrus Bahrassa also grappled with the coal question, and noted that having coal interests close provided an opportunity to exert influence in the other direction. “I realize Missouri has a pathetic renewable-energy infrastructure,” he wrote, “but Wash U. is in a unique position (particularly with an Ameren executive on its board) to demand more.”