Climate activism heats up at Mount Holyoke after election

By Emily Berg ’28

Science & Environment Editor

As recent executive orders signed by President Donald Trump foreshadow drastic impacts for clean energy progress in Massachusetts, Mount Holyoke College students have begun to organize and demand changes for climate justice with a new sense of urgency.

President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national energy emergency on Jan. 20 as one of the top priorities in his “America First” plan. This order attempts to reverse environmental regulations around the use of natural energy resources instituted during previous administrations for allegedly contributing to inadequate infrastructure, weakened national security and steep energy prices for American consumers. Trump plans to “unleash energy dominance” by taking full advantage of all natural energy resources available, including oil-drilling and extraction projects in critical areas like Alaska, which significantly inhibits progress on decarbonization efforts across the country.

For Massachusetts, these orders will enact policies to end federal leasing for wind farms, as the “America First” briefing said they “degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers.” This presents a significant setback in the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030, whose primary goals include setting greenhouse gas emission limits of 33% below 1990 levels by 2025 and 50% below by 2030. The plan also consists of reducing reliance on fossil fuels, encouraging carbon sequestration and increasing public engagement across several Massachusetts Commonwealth sectors.

Experts believe that offshore wind farm development is an integral part of the clean energy future in Massachusetts. This consists of installing wind turbines that will generate electricity in ocean waters, which is more efficient than land-based wind farms due to high and consistent wind speeds. Developing and operating this technology is already costly, due to the harsh nature of the site environments and already busy farm space, and the policies that Trump wants to enact will impact Massachusetts’ ability to continue with this plan.

In an interview on Jan. 27 with Madeleine Aitken for boston.com, Acadia Center expert Kyle Murray said, “Projects under construction and in operation should still be safe … Additionally, projects that are permanent but not yet under construction, are currently safe … But beyond that, any future projects are very unlikely to move forward under the current scheme of things.”

While these policy changes will not directly affect the energy sources on Mount Holyoke’s campus, the College is staying committed to sourcing clean energy for campus infrastructure.

The ongoing geothermal project is a major step in reducing dependence on fossil fuels and achieving the College’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2037, and serves as a divergence from federal climate policies.

In October 2024, the College announced the development of a comprehensive campus plan — part of MHC Forward, the College’s strategic plan — that focuses on understanding existing needs of the campus and analyzing feedback from students, faculty and staff. In collaboration with the design firm Sasaki, the plan encompasses six key areas for design reforms, including environmental sustainability and geothermal energy usage. Within the three phases of this plan, there are multiple ways for students to provide feedback on environmental sustainability reforms on campus, in addition to the five other areas of focus.

Annabel Consilvio, a planner for Sasaki, helped lead a tabling event for the Comprehensive Campus Plan in Blanchard Hall on Jan. 31. This event was a concluding transition from “Phase 1: Concept and Analysis” in the planning process, following the results of the My Campus survey released in the fall. Two vision boards displayed six themes summarizing potential campus reforms, with space below for students to place sticky notes identifying specific ideas for improvements. Key environmental sustainability concerns of students included the implementation of more environmentally friendly planting practices, improvement of the lakes’ conditions and transitioning of campus spaces into co-ops.

In Phase 2, there will be even more opportunities for student engagement, including in-person community events aimed at developing concept alternatives from the opportunity frameworks created in Phase 1. “Essentially through engagement sessions and workshops, we're going to come back in March and present some initial opportunity scenarios of different potential plans, reforms the campus might take,” Consilvio said. “If you want to get involved more immediately, on the website there's a contact form where you can also leave additional feedback and comments and things, and the website will also be updated periodically with all of this content that we're generating.”

In addition to involvement with the Campus Comprehensive Plan, Mount Holyoke students have opportunities for action on a larger scale within student organizations, like the newly established Sunrise Hub. Sunrise is a national environmental justice movement organized around young people, with over 130 chapters across educational institutions and communities, including UMass Amherst and Smith College. Responding to the results of the presidential election in November, three Mount Holyoke sophomores immediately organized and founded the Sunrise Mount Holyoke chapter within a week of the election.

In an interview with Mount Holyoke News, Hub Coordinator and founding member Keira Gillin ’27 said, “Once Trump was elected, many of us were in despair, and there were a lot of calls to organize and uplift and community build … And at the same time, it was like 75 degrees at the beginning of November in Massachusetts, and we were just so scared.” The Sunrise Hub founders felt the best way to channel their grief was through organizing and committing to action.

“When something like an election kind of puts a damper on a movement, it's really easy to get down and hopeless about it. But something I love so much about Sunrise, is that no matter what happens, they're just like, ‘Okay, we're pivoting, and we're gonna keep doing this,’” Hattie Nichols ’27, founding member and communications & art lead said.

The team noticed the lack of active climate organizations on campus, and sought to fulfill the need for a climate justice movement with goals beyond basic environmentalism. Recruitment & Petition Lead Sadie Mielcarz ’27 explained that while each chapter has specific goals, there are national campaigns like the Green New Deal that guide their actions. The Green New Deal focuses on decarbonization, creating good union jobs, investing in marginalized communities and building a social safety net to ensure clean energy benefits for all. A recent national campaign, "People vs. Billionaires," aims to reduce the influence of billionaires in politics, which has been a priority call-to-action for many Sunrise chapters.

These campaigns will be active on the College’s campus later in the spring semester, but first, the Sunrise Hub plans to become a registered student organization and to build a diverse foundation of members and leaders from the Mount Holyoke community. Nichols said, “We want to have a board that's diverse across classes, across backgrounds, across friend groups. We don't want our board to just be our friends. So I think we're really focusing on getting a lot of different people involved.”

The Sunrise movement believes that fighting for climate justice should be a helpful and fulfilling process. The Mount Holyoke chapter’s founders also mentioned active communications with other Sunrise Hubs in the local area. Mielcarz said, “[We’re] just kind of seeing what we can maybe do across the five colleges … I think people have a good sense of community, but I think it would be nice for people to know that there are people at other schools who have very similar mindsets, and would love to work together.”

“When you're thinking about the effects of climate change, and you're thinking about working against it, it can sometimes feel very hopeless, like we can't change it. But the truth is, we can! I hope that people find that fulfilling nature of the work.I would feel successful if we walked away from an action and one person said ‘that gave me hope,’” Mielcarz said.

Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed fact-checking.