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 testimony from university officials, investment advisors and from 350.org, the group behind the national college divestment campaign. Today, at the fourth hearing of the task force, DU officials took public comment from the fossil fuel industry for the first time.
Twenty-five energy workers and industry supporters – compared to just one divestment activist – attended the task force meeting to hear a presentation from Simon Lomax, Denver-based adviser to Divestment Facts. His presentation was a direct response to Brett Fleishman, a 350.org official based in California, who testified before the task force in early August. At that hearing on Aug. 4, only two divestment activists attended to show their support.
In an hour-long presentation, Lomax offered a look at the real costs of divestment for universities, the growing list of failures of 350.org’s anti-fossil fuel campaign, and the critical role of the energy sector in Colorado’s economy. He told the task force about the divestment campaign’s singular focus on demonizing energy companies and energy workers and the involvement of 350.org in a series of anti-fracking ballot measures that have been met with broad, bipartisan opposition in Colorado. Lomax also showed the task force that even climate advocates – such as Robert Stavins of Harvard and Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado – have sharply criticized the divestment campaign and the tactics of 350.org.
Targeting DU was a curious decision for 350.org because the university already has a strong track record on cutting emissions, Lomax said. DU has cut carbon emissions by 15 percent since 2006, even as the university has grown, enrolling six percent more students and employing five percent more staff over the same period.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to 350.org or any other environmental group for that matter,” Lomax said. “You are walking the walk while they talk the talk.”
“We see this a lot,” Lomax added, unveiling new research from Divestment Facts.
Some of the world’s leading college admissions services like the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report publish an annual list of the most eco-friendly schools based on their own metrics. The Sierra Club itself also puts together its list of “Top Green Schools.” What do all three of these lists have in common? More schools on these Top 10 lists have rejected than pledged divestment.
According to the Sierra Club’s list of America’s Greenest Colleges, three of the top ten schools have come out in opposition to divestment while only one school – Green Mountain College — has pledged divestment. Those top three schools, University of California, Irvine, American University, and Dickinson College are all considered “Cool Schools” by the Sierra club and are “dedicated to greening every level of their operation.” Meanwhile, they have each said no to divestment. As University of California Regent Bonnie Reiss stated at UC Irvine in 2015:
“It was really the belief of everyone on this committee, myself included, who cares about climate that simply divesting from a list of a couple hundred companies that the students were presenting would absolutely do nothing. So we sell a few shares and stocks in an oil company. It won’t change their behavior in any way. It’s just symbolism without real impact and maybe gets a quick headline like we saw with Stanford.”
At the Princeton Review, six of their Top 10 Green Colleges have also rejected divestment while only two have pledged divestment. And of U.S. News & World Report’s Top 10 Eco-Friendly Colleges, four of the schools have rejected divestment while only two have pledged divestment.
It’s clear that divestment and tangible, measurable success in finding climate change solutions do not go hand in hand. As featured in today’s presentation from Divestment Facts, natural gas development, for instance, has actually been a boon for the environment in helping to reduce carbon emissions both in Colorado and the nation. And this development has gone on alongside, and in harmony, with increased renewable development.
Dr. Frank Laird, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at DU, also spoke to this fact in front of the task force earlier this summer, noting how divestment campaigns distract institutions from pursuing solutions and DU’s existing energy research programs. He told the task force,
“[Divestment] is not really ineffective, but I think it can have a negative effect on de-carbonizing the energy systems because, frankly, it’s a distraction from the large and complex task we need to face [emphasis added].”
He continued, citing a study co-authored by Harvard professor Naomi Oreskes, an outspoken divestment advocate, finding that just 18.5 percent of all fossil fuel reserves (oil, natural gas, and coal combined) are privately owned. In turn, he stated since universities cannot invest in them in nationally owned firms to being with “The largest component of the fossil fuel industry is simply irrelevant to what private investors wish to do…So part of the story that we’re going to affect the industry simply misses the largest part of the industry.”
In another presentation at today’s hearing, Kristy LeGrande and Wendy Walker from investment advisory firm Cambridge Associates spoke about the challenges of divestment from an investment perspective. They explained that investment strategies for most endowments involve commingled funds, that screened funds are not typically offered by most high quality investment managers, and that the track record for the “handful” of hedge fund strategies that are explicitly “fossil fuel free” is very limited. They also pointed out that while energy stocks may not have performed as well as other sectors in the short term, over longer time periods – which they explained are more relevant to institutions – energy stocks have performed better than a broader basket of securities.
From today’s task force meeting at DU, it’s clear that 350.org’s “divest or fail” proposition for targeted universities is failing. For schools looking to achieve environmental outcomes, there are real steps they can take towards real solutions. But divestment is simply not one of them.
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.