Good News, short and sweet. Stanford to Purge $18 Billion Endowment of Coal Stock
Stanford University announced Tuesday that it would divest its $18.7 billion endowment of stock in coal-mining companies, becoming the first major university to lend support to a nationwide campaign to purge endowments and pension funds of fossil fuel investments.
Such things give me hope. Activist students can make a big difference.
At least 11 small universities have elected to remove fossil-fuel stocks from their endowments, but none approaches Stanford’s prestige or national influence. Tuesday’s decision seems likely to increase the pressure on other major universities to follow suit.
Cassidorus has been following the story of the movement with a series, recently noting that
Pitzer divested. He reproduced a letter that Pomona students activists would have liked to have published, but in the face of a recalcitrant administration, didn't. Here's an excerpt:
Pomona has a chance, right now, to be a leader in a nationwide movement. There are over 300 divestment campaigns in schools, cities, and states across the United States. The power of this movement is in collective action - if after Pitzer divests, then Pomona divests, then Stanford divests, then Harvard divests...this is a powerful challenge to the social license of fossil fuel companies that has allowed them to continue with “business as usual.” With an endowment at over $1 million per student, Pomona is perfectly positioned to make a large impact in this movement.
As
Rebecca Solnit commented on her Facebook feed, where I first learned of this good news:
This takes away the "it's too wild and fringe-y to do" excuse.
Yep. Onward!