Park City — Last night, the Park City School District Board of Education unanimously passed a Collective Commitment on Clean Energy establishing the goal of achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2030. The Commitment compliments and strengthens the district’s work to reduce energy consumption and minimize its carbon footprint. 

This effort was led by students from Park City’s high and middle schoolers, in collaboration with Utah Sierra Club and Recycle Utah. In advance of the August 17th board meeting, students submitted a petition in support of the resolution to the board signed by 500 district students, parents, and staff.

The Collective Commitment sets the following goals for the district:

  1. To purchase sustainable electricity as made available under HB411 as soon as practical, but no later than 2030
  2. To ensure all additions to schools are built to a minimum LEED Silver Standard (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
  3. To ensure all additions to schools are designed to achieve less than 35 EIU (Energy Utilization Index)
  4. To study a transition of the current diesel and propane bus fleet to electrical or other low energy use vehicles

Students from the Clean Energy Campaign made the following statements:

According to Nina Serafin, leader of the Students for 100 percent Clean Energy team and Co-president of the Park City High School Climate Action Club, the commitment to 100 percent clean electricity for district operations will help align the school district with the city and county clean energy goals. “Park City and Summit County have some of the most ambitious climate goals in the country,” she says. “By committing to 100 percent Clean Energy, the school district can play a key role in helping the community achieve its goals.”

“This is part of a larger student-led movement that’s gaining momentum in schools across the state as young people become more aware and concerned of the challenges and risks presented by the climate crisis,” says Montana Burack, a member of the Students for 100 percent Clean Energy team and 10th grader at Park City High School. “Even as a 10th grader, it is obvious that clean energy is a step in the right direction, especially in the most local form of government, our school boards. This campaign has made me even more proud of my community and has taught me how even a 15-year-old can make a difference in an issue as big as climate change.” 

According to Tess Carson, a member of the Students for 100 percent Clean Energy team and co-president of the Park City High School Climate Action Club, adopting the clean energy commitment was crucial to ensure that the District Master Plan includes a clear emission reduction target. 

“The vote for climate action was timely, as we recently witnessed a wildfire in our community,” says Carson. Worsening wildfires and intensified drought continue to demonstrate the climate reality in Utah, and we are grateful to the board for taking this action to support mitigating the worst impacts of the climate crisis."

Next, the students will continue to collaborate with the district and its leaders for sustainable and clean energy project implementation.

“The District has invited the Student Coalition to participate in a listening and sharing session with the environmental engineer teams to support implementation,” says Carson.