Fossil Free, a campaign affiliated with 350.org, leads similar campaigns on campuses all over the country, and said their petition at UNM is the most successful one yet.
Fossil Free is a global campaign working to convince major institutional leaders to immediately freeze new investments in fossil fuels and to divest any stocks within the industry. It is just one of 350.org’s movements to preserve our planet and act against global warming.
“A university should be dedicated to the future of its students, and this particular type of investment goes against the future of students. Unless, of course, you don’t believe in climate change, which is absurd,” said Ken Bergeron, a Fossil Free member.
The UNM Foundation manages University investments and is worth $425 million, Frank said. A finance committee meets quarterly to oversee the investment of that money and to maximize investment strategies, Frank said.
A meeting between the Foundation and Fossil Free is being scheduled to discuss and debate divestment, but a date has not yet been set.
“The investments (in fossil fuels) are only a very small portion of the $425 million. It’s like a raindrop in a puddle,” Frank said. “Their job is to maximize the returns to the University and it’s not enough to achieve what these guys are saying. It’s only a symbolic act, but it’s an important one.”
Fossil Free regularly petitions on campus, gathering signatures from students and other people who want to see UNM walk their talk when it comes to protecting the environment, Bergeron said.
Fossil Free has gotten 2,859 of the 3,000 necessary petition signatures, according to their website.
Frank said he met with the group recently, and decided their argument needed to be heard by the Foundation, who will ultimately make the decision.
“I was impressed by the argument they made. We’re a university; we’re a place where you should talk about hard ideas,” Frank said. “I’m going to listen to the debate on the day it happens and try and understand if the symbolism is important enough for the University to take that stand.”
Fossil Free literature reports that in order to successfully limit CO2 emissions, humans can only burn 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide creating fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry has 2,765 gigatons in their reserves and continues to search for more daily. In order to slow climate change by keeping those reserves unused, investments based on those reserves will have to lose their market value, according to the group.
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Divestment is a proven tactic for highlighting the destructive possibilities of fossil fuels and for creating political momentum towards restricting their use, according to Fossil Fuel.
Dozens of universities, cities and organizations have already committed to divestment. Most significantly, in May, Stanford University agreed to divest from 100 coal companies, according to the Fossil Free website.
“It’s happening. We have been doing this on campus for four semesters now and are getting a very good response. Of all the Fossil Free initiatives, and I believe there are over 600, ours is the biggest,” Bergeron said. “That reflects that students and members of the university community get it and care about it. We’re hoping the administration will see that and make the plans to make this change.”
Marielle Dent is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at mdent@unm.edu or on Twitter @Marielle_Dent.
