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Members of 350.org New Mexico are once again calling for UNM to drop its investments in fossil fuel companies.
State group 350 NM was one of several participants with that goal in mind at a meeting held at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, along with UNM students and community members.
International climate advocacy group 350.org pushes awareness to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through grassroots and volunteer-based public information campaigns.
Jim Mackenzie, co-leader of 350 NM, said the group aims to urge UNM’s gradual removal of investments from corporations it sees as contributing to the global climate crisis.
“We have a common concern about the University meeting its obligations as we see them, and, obviously, a common concern about protecting the health of the planet,” Mackenzie said.
According to a recent report by 350.org, 350 NM points out that countries are making fossil fuels expensive to produce through increased regulations on carbon and other pollutants, and the rise of renewable energies is decreasing the demand for oil, gas and coal. Divestment, which pushes institutions to sway away from fossil fuels, makes room for putting funds into renewable alternatives like wind and solar energies, and allows the University, in this case, to focus on long-term investments in sustainability, the report states.
In a petition first sent by the group to UNM President Robert Frank in early April, 350 NM called upon the University to proactively change its current investment strategy. According to the petition, UNM owns stock in the world’s top 200 fossil fuel companies and “as New Mexico’s premier educational institution, UNM should help lead the way forward, and divestment from fossil fuels is a crucial step.”
According to its informal proposal for divestment, 350 NM wants to see UNM become part of a solution that reflects the policies put forth in by the University’s 2009 Climate Action Plan (CAP).
UNM’s CAP was signed in 2009 by then-President David Schmidly with the goal of eventual carbon neutrality on campus.
Mackenzie said the group wants to see that initiative for general sustainability practices on campus extended to UNM’s investment policies.
UNM student Angela Arriaga said her participation in 350 NM’s divestment campaign stems from her desire to help get fellow students involved through outreach efforts surrounding the divestment campaign.
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“When I am tabling on campus or asking for signatures on our petitions, my goal is for other students to see their peers becoming involved,” Arriaga said. “There are a number of universities that are actively promoting divestment campaigns, and I want UNM to be included in that discussion.”
While 350 NM has not received a formal response from UNM regarding its petition, Mackenzie said the University has been very respectful in allowing the group to speak and be heard at its Board of Regents meetings.
“I think that sometimes we might come across like we are attacking the University,” Mackenzie said. “I don’t think that is accurate.
UNM is a special place, and what we’re interested in is the University living up to its ideals of higher education and standards it put in place in the CAP.”
