Oil Spill Taints UC Berkeley's BP-Funded Research

In this July 30, 2010 photo, demonstrator Gene Bernardi holds a sign during a protest in Berkeley,...

In this July 30, 2010 photo, demonstrator Gene Bernardi holds a sign during a protest in Berkeley, Calif., to mark the 100th day anniversary of BP oil spill. BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is fueling opposition to the University of California, Berkeley's research partnership with the oil giant, with activists staging protests on the famously liberal campus. The British company gave UC Berkeley a $500 million grant in 2007 to create the Energy Biosciences Institute, which works to develop new sources of plant-based fuel. It's believed to be the largest-ever corporate sponsorship of university research, but still outraged students and professors who worried the global oil company would exert too much influence over academic research and damage the university's reputation. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

(AP)

BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is fueling opposition to the University of California, Berkeley's research partnership with the British company, with activists and professors on the famously liberal campus calling for a severing of ties.

The oil giant gave UC Berkeley a $500 million grant in 2007 to create the Energy Biosciences Institute, which works to develop new sources of plant-based fuel. The 10-year deal, believed to be the largest-ever corporate sponsorship of university research, has outraged many students and professors who worry the global oil company will exert too much influence over academic research and damage the university's reputation.

Now, as the spill devastates the Gulf Coast, some local activists and faculty members say it's time to end the partnership.

"Our bottom line is the public good, and their bottom line is profit," said Ignacio Chapela, a UC Berkeley professor of environmental science. "There comes a point where those positions are irreconcilable, and I think that point is now."

On Friday, a group of activists staged an anti-BP demonstration next to the construction site where the university is building a new facility to house the research institute. They poured chocolate syrup on the sidewalk — to represent the oil spill — and held signs the read "Berkeley Petroleum" and "Do you want BP Pollution in Berkeley?"

"Now that we can see what BP is responsible for in the Gulf, we demand that the contract between UC and BP be re-looked at," activist Stephanie Tang said, speaking to onlookers through a megaphone.

But UC Berkeley officials say the institute has nothing to do with the Gulf spill, and the university has no plans to end its research partnership with BP.

"The horrible events in the Gulf should only strengthen our commitment to find alternatives to fossil fuels," said Graham Fleming, UC Berkeley's vice chancellor of research. "Why would anyone's interest be served by stopping this research?"