Colorado energy workers showed up in numbers today at the University of Denver with a simple message: Don’t endorse the anti-fossil fuel agenda of 350.org. DU is currently considering a proposal to divest the university’s endowment from investments tied to oil, natural gas or coal. A special DU task force, formed in July, has received …
As students head back to campus this fall, a national campaign aimed at forcing endowments to divest from fossil fuels will no-doubt kick up again, with national organizers from groups like 350.org urging students to rally to the cause. But just how has divestment fared over recent years, and how effective has it been? As …
Earlier this year, Vermont became a battleground state for the divestment movement when Governor Peter Shumlin (D) called for Vermont State Retirement Systems to mirror the actions of California and divest from fossil fuel energy companies in his annual state-of-the-state address. He also went on to note that 350.org leader Bill McKibben, a Vermont native …
Following on the heels of major divestment rejections from NYU and Cambridge last month, the University of Utah’s Board of Trustees recently announced that it will not get rid of the school’s fossil fuel investments. Despite pressure from student activists and a resolution from the Academic Senate calling on the school to divest its $715 …
By now, no one should be surprised by “empty gesture” divestment pledges from college campuses and pension funds. The latest example? The University System of Maryland Foundation (USMF). The University, according to the student paper, “has no direct investments in coal, tar sands or any companies on the Carbon Underground 200 list,” yet announced …
The month of June has not been kind to the divestment movement, with two major universities already deciding not to divest their endowments from fossil fuels. First, as DivestmentFacts.com already noted, NYU announced it would not divest in a memorandum to students and faculty. Shortly thereafter, Cambridge University also rebuffed calls to divest, becoming the …
New York University has officially announced it is rejecting divestment in a newly released memorandum to the NYU community. This spring, student activists and campaigners in support of the divestment movement called upon the university to divest its holdings in fossil fuels, despite the costs of such a decision. Luckily for the NYU endowment and its beneficiaries, the school …
A new report by Prof. Hendrik Bessembinder of Arizona State University highlighting the true cost of divestment is receiving nationwide attention. The study found that transactional costs and management fees alone could cost endowments billions of dollars to rid themselves of fossil fuel investments – over and above any costs that would be incurred through …
First-of-its-kind survey asks and answers critical but previously unexplored question: What do actual pensioners think of divestment? Coming on the heels of news this week that the District of Columbia Retirement Board intends to divest its direct financial holdings in hydrocarbon-energy producers, while not selling any of its larger commingled funds that contain many …
This morning, the Washington, D.C. pension fund announced it is divesting from its “direct investments” in 200 fossil fuel companies. Here’s what you need to know about this decision. Direct investments a mere sliver of overall fossil fuel holdings Direct holdings are only a portion of the Washington D.C. pension investment portfolio; other asset structures …
All quotes featured by professors and school leaders on this website are public statements made by individuals and are not necessarily representative of the institution of which they are associated. Said schools and universities are also not affiliated with IPAA or DivestmentFacts.com.