I am deeply in support of the expansion of university resources and the long-term sustainability of higher education. I am not convinced, however, that tying up billions of dollars in private capital is the best way to fulfill WashU’s obligations as an educational institution.

Divestment campaigns have achieved their goals at other universities. So what’s stopping divestment at WashU?

The environmental advocacy group Green Action WashU, formerly known as Fossil Free WashU, announced its filing of a legal complaint against Washington University at the Fossil Fuel Divestment Rally this Monday, Oct. 30. 

Green Action, a student group focused on environmental justice and advocacy, held a rally calling on Washington University to divest from fossil fuels as a part of its Fossil Free WashU campaign, Oct. 27.

While Washington University’s Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization (CCCU) describes itself as a research center on the cutting edge of climate solutions, the consortium’s support for the continued use of fossil fuels and its focus on carbon capture and sequestration have faced scrutiny.

“While divestment was not the outcome, we had a productive dialogue and received some promising news about the state of our endowment.”

Our school’s choices of how it invests its money matters not just to the students, staff, faculty and communities with which the university interacts on a daily basis, but to the world as well.

Representatives from Fossil Free WashU and WU/FUSED met with Wrighton to discuss the formation of a “transparency committee,” to open the doors to a conversation between the administration and those arguing for divestment from fossil fuels.

It is good to see that the field of energy and the environment, and the research done by faculty, is creating a debate/discussion on campus amongst the students.  It helps all of us get better educated on the challenging issues we face.

If approved, Proposition C on this year’s ballot–the Clean Energy Initiative–will require utility companies to incrementally increase their use of renewable energy annually until it reaches 15 percent of the […]