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July 2, 2020

The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a rushed pro-divestment, not-binding resolution on June 30, put forward by a coalition led by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The network, who intended to meet this summer for its 88th annual meeting, convenes more than 1,400 mayors and deems itself to be bipartisan. However, due to …

June 30, 2020

On Friday, George Washington University’s Board of Trustees announced, in an unscheduled meeting, that they had voted in favor of halting all future fossil fuel investments and divesting all assets from coal, natural gas and oil extractive companies over the next five years. After years of resisting efforts to divest—the school rejected divestment in 2016—it …

June 26, 2020
June 26, 2020
June 18, 2020

This morning, marking the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, the Vatican released a document on “integral ecology” outlining measures taken by the institution to address climate change and urging action on behalf of Catholics. While the 220+ page document covers diverse ground and emphasized increased investment in and adoption of renewable …

June 10, 2020

(UPDATE: 6/12/20 3:45pm ET): Stanford University rejected divestment for the second time.  In a press release, the Board noted that fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in providing the world with its energy needs and transitioning to lower emissions sources: “In considering the Fossil Free Stanford request for divestment of any investments in …

May 29, 2020

Last night, Stanford’s Faculty Senate voted against a resolution presented by the University’s Student Association (ASSU) to halt all fossil fuel investments. With a 28 to 11 vote against the resolution, the faculty’s rejection could be harbinger of what’s to come when the Board of Trustees reviews a similar proposal from the student divest group …

May 29, 2020

This week Cornell generated some headlines for moving forward with a divestment regime, even though a closer look shows that the new policy is anything but.  The Board of Trustees officially announced that the school would put a pause on new investments in private equity and bond vehicles focused on fossil fuels, but would not …

May 21, 2020

On Tuesday, the University of California announced it had removed fossil fuel investments from its $126 billion investment portfolio. Too bad the flawed decision was actually announced back in September. Here’s what you should know about this recycled headline. The UC System has long opposed divestment as a political action. Back in September 2015, when …

May 15, 2020

Early this week, the Washington Post published a story on the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) talking about the financial results derived from “divesting” from fossil fuels. According to the story, since the RBF announced it would move away from fossil fuels back in 2014, financial performance of its endowment bolstered. Too bad the reality is …