We’re on the radio! Have a listen.

This American Life airs on more than 500 stations around the country and reaches 1.8 million listeners. Last week’s episode on climate change was great news for both the broader conversation around climate change and the growing movement to divest from fossil fuels.

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We’d been hearing rumors for a couple months that Santa Monica had divested from fossil fuels, but it’s only in the last few weeks that we’ve gotten all the details on the lengths this sunny, sea-side California city has gone to clean up its portfolio. Last November 27, just weeks after we kicked off the national fossil fuel divestment campaign with the Do The Math tour, Santa Monica City Councilmember Kevin McKeown brought forward a resolution directing city staff to “evaluate how best to divest fossil fuel investments from the City’s portfolios, and return with policy options as part of the February mid-year budget review.”

In February, city staff presented the council with their findings. Santa Monica didn’t currently invest it’s city funds in the fossil fuel industry, so there was no money there to divest. The city’s pension fund was tied up in CalPERS, California’s mega pension plan, so while the city could help push for divestment at the state level, there was no immediate step they could take on that front, either. There was one city fund that did have a substantial amount of money that could be divested, however: the Cemetery and Mausoleum Perpetual Care Fund.

As it turned out, Santa Monica’s fund to maintain the Woodlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum is the size of many college endowments, generating returns of roughly  $400,000 annually. According to city staff, approximately 10% of the Cemetery and Mausoleum portfolio, about $1 million, was invested in fossil fuel companies, generating about $30,000-$40,000 annually in interest and dividend income. The staff noted that these investments could easily be replaced with investments in other sectors.

Under the leadership of Councilmember McKeown, the city council decided that it would go ahead and divest the cemetery. As Gigi Decavalles-Hughes, the Director of Finance for the city, told the council, under the action, “No further investments would be made in fossil fuel companies in either the Cemetery and Mausoleum Perpetual Care funds or any other City investment portfolio.”

What would the current residents of Woodlawn Cemetery think of the city’s decision to stop funding their upkeep with investments in fossil fuel companies? I suppose we’ll never know, but if the dead could speak, I think a good number of them would support the decision. Woodlawn “resident” actor Leo Carillo, for instance, served on the California Beach and Parks commission for eighteen years and has a number of parks and trails named after him.

One person I’m sure would have supported the cause is Woodlawn celebrity Christabel Pankhurst, a proudly militant suffragette who fought alongside her sister and mother in England for the right to vote during the early 20th century. As Christabel said once, “We are here to claim our rights as women, not only to be free, but to fight for freedom. It is our privilege, as well as our pride and our joy, to take some part in this militant movement, which, as we believe, means the regeneration of all humanity.” I bet Pankhurst would be proud, that nearly a century later, her new home is stirring up some good momentum for another important cause.

Many thanks to the City Council of Santa Monica and all the residents and activists there for joining this movement!

The post Santa Monica divests the city (and cemetery) from fossil fuels appeared first on Fossil Free.

First Unitarian members met over the weekend to explore the question: “What would Jesus divest?” They then voted unanimously to make sure their $700,000 endowment was free of fossil fuel stocks.

A 350.org Rally in Salt Lake City

As Bill McKibben has said in the past, it makes no sense for religious institutions to be investing in companies that are, in effect, “running Genesis backwards.” In their proposal to divest, the “socially conscious” First Unitarian Church wrote, “Since our congregation fits that description and most members and friends are acutely aware of climate change and the environmental destruction caused by the burning of fossil fuels, it represents an opportunity to do our part in an effort to preserve a livable planet for ourselves, our children and grandchildren.”

Salt Lake City has a long and proud history of climate activism. It was the home of one of 350.org’s first big climate rallies, back when we were the Step It Up 2007 campaign. It’s also the home of one of our favorite allies, Peaceful Uprising, and climate justice activist Tim DeChristopher, who recently got released from 18 months in prison after disrupting an oil auction in Utah (to learn more about Tim’s story, check out the new Bidder 70 film that is in theaters now).

The congregation at First Unitarian know that their action alone won’t solve climate change, but that their leadership can inspire more congregations, universities, cities, and other public institutions to also divest. As Joan Gregory, who leads the congregation’s environmental ministry, told the Tribune, ”It is one piece of the puzzle. It is a way to walk our talk.”

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Our campaign culminated on Friday May 17th, with an Open People’s Board Meeting just outside the room where our Board of Trustees was considering our divestment proposals and support we’ve gained over the last few months.   After the Board refused to let a representative from our campaign present, Fossil Free decided the best way to get our message across would be to hold this open meeting, allowing for the opportunity for all AU voices to be heard.  We had previously been told that a voice through Student Government leadership was our only option for communicating the urgency of this issue.

American University students and alumni, along with organizers and supporters from throughout the DC community, rallied at the Open People’s Board Meeting to envision what their endowment could look like if the Board had permitted representatives from American University Fossil Free to present on their campaign work.

During the Open Meeting, the case for divestment was presented to student representations of Board Members, Jeffery Sine and Gary Cohn, COO of Goldman Sachs.  They also heard students of AU Fossil Free, the President of AU College Democrats, alumni supporter Mary Schellentrager ‘10 with Energy Action Coalition, and Lili Molina, an environmental justice advocate who worked with Little Village Environmental Justice Organization on the 10-year campaign to successfully close the Crawford & Fisk coal plants in Chicago. At the end of the speeches and presentations, our student board members decided the evidence was clear, and “fake” divested our endowment from fossil fuels while reinvesting our money into clean energy technology.

This action has followed several scheduled Board meetings, and conversations with the administration over the past week.  Students waited outside of Thursday’s Finance and Investment Committee meeting, as well as Friday morning’s General Body meeting, greeting trustees and administration and thanking them for considering divesting.  After several conversations, it was clear that fossil fuel divestment is the biggest student issue at AU this semester, but the students are waiting for a full Board report with results from all the meetings before deciding how to move forward on the next steps of the campaign.

This year Fossil Free American University has run an amazing campaign, from a kickoff event of fifty students in December, this amazing campus group has pulled together a strong coalition of campus organizations, and won a unanimous Student Government referendum, a student resolution advocating for divestment with 80% of the vote, hundreds of petition signatures and photos, and a Faculty Senate endorsement. They have held meetings with students and administrators, a week of social media and email actions, rallies, culminating with a weekend of action around commencement and a campaign endorsement from Lisa Jackson.

Check out a video of the event here! Thanks to our friends Mary and Zakee at the Energy Action Coalition for putting it together!

AU students take their demands directly to the Board from POWER SHIFT TV on Vimeo.

Big thanks to everyone who came out and supported us throughout the semester and on a weekday morning, we’ll make sure to keep you in the loop about our the future plans, this summer, and the rest of our campaign!

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Yesterday marked yet another remarkable milestone in the Fossil Free Movement’s short but vibrant history. In Sacramento, on Thursday May 16th, dozens of students from colleges throughout California converged upon the University of California’s quarterly Regents’ meeting. Our purpose: to show the Regents our power and to insist that fossil fuel divestment be placed on the Regents’ agenda for their meeting in September. We garnered more success than we were prepared for.
It started at 5:30am when students, some who had only met the night before, began to gather our props, hammers, chains, locks, and letters to the regents. As we sipped coffee in the park and put the final touches on our 12 foot oil derrick, we wondered if we’d actually run into any Regents. By 8am a bevy of Fossil Free UC students and partners were staged an impassioned demonstration right in front of the entrance to the Regents quarterly meeting in Sacremento – a far cry from where we’d come from.

We chained ourselves around makeshift wooden props, symbolising our enslavement to an economy and society dependent on the fossil fuel industry. We then called upon the Regents to symbolically unlock us from the chains that bind our futures to destructive fossil fuels. This is where symbolism ends and reality begins, however. The reality being that continued bondage to fossil fuels will condemn my generation to misery, scarcity and even death. The reality also being that my generation is here, and we cannot and will not allow the fossil fuel industry to steal from our future for profit in the present.

We chanted, we danced, we marched in our chains as our peers asked each Regent that entered if they would unlock us. Many of the board members stopped listened and took our letter, but found it difficult to commit to putting the key into the lock.

Among the heartily chorused chants of “UC, FOSSIL FREE!” and “when I say fossil you say free!” emerged one far more poignant: “We are unstoppable, another world is possible!” – It started out quiet, barely more than a whisper, but was repeated again and again, and as it was repeated it grew louder and louder, gaining in strength and confidence, the finale erupting in crescendo of passion and conviction. This conviction is the reality the Regents and our opposition must now face. We believe in ourselves; we believe in our cause; and we believe that another world truly is possible if we fight for it. As that tentative whisper grew to a deafening roar, we too grew.

Inside the testimony echoed the vigour of our message outside. We had written one long speech divided into 13 students 1 min time slots for public comment, we practiced outside as the police prepared for the crowd that had just been unlocked to enter the building.

We filed into the public comments segment of the Regents’ meeting, and, one after another, went up to the microphone and eloquently but firmly stated the case for fossil fuel divestment. The testimony was organised, respectful, and fiercely passionate. As each student calmly walked up to the microphone an eagerness filled the room: “what would be said next?” Each of us brought a new point to the table, strengthening and redoubling that strength with a clear, persuasive, and vigorous argument. Divestment is scientifically, financially and morally right.

We experienced an unprecedented response and applause from the Regents, as Chancellor Birgenau stepped outside to describe our testimony as “incredible” and the Vice President of STudents Affairs, Judy Sadaki offered us her card and her promise: to help leverage her power to aide us, to get us in a meeting with the Regents.

At 11am it was all over. We all knew we had done something quite incredible, and we had done it together. Our case had been stated, our anger had been heard, we had been taken seriously, but most importantly, we had proved ourselves a credible, organised, and dynamic force.

Aside from our more obvious victories, the fact that the entire event was made possible by the collaboration and solidarity of 3 non-UC schools, 7 UC campus teams (including UC Berkeley’s “rival” Stanford) and that we all traveled so far to smoothly execute our the semesters final tactic is what leaves me feeling truly a part of a growing movement. We proved that our power stretched far beyond the doors of the board room. Today was special because it exemplified all of the qualities that will make us unstoppable, and the possibility of another world a reality.

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Fossil Free UD finished out the spring semester with a bang. On the National Divestment Day of Action on May 2^nd, the group administered a poll and had 95% of students surveyed say they support socially responsible investing. 89% said they support fossil fuel divestment and reinvestment in carbon neutral or clean energy companies. To formalize this widespread support, the group submitted a StUDent Government Association proposal on May 4^th.

The proposal was finally presented on May 14^th. After a few questions and brief discussion, about 15 student Senators voted for the proposal, none against it, and about 5 abstained. With the passing of this resolution, the University of Delaware joins the ranks of a few other world-class universities whose student governments have taken action on divestment and made strides towards a more sustainable future. The proposal, now adopted by SGA, urges administration to make divestment a real priority.

The state of Delaware is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change because its average elevation is the lowest in the country, at only 60 feet. This means that, according to some models, 11% of the state will be underwater by the year 2100. As the state’s most prominent university, UD claims to value sustainability and makes efforts towards implementing green changes here and there. But it’s illogical to financially support companies that are the antithesis to sustainability, and that are jeopardizing the future that UD works so hard to prepare its students for. Now that the student body’s desire for sustainability in both talk and practice has been codified by a student government resolution, administration won’t be able to shrug off the divestment discussion so easily. UD’s motto is “Dare to be First.” Let’s make sure they act on this commitment to leadership.

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Bob and Joan Holt

We are aging activists who live in Truro, MA on Cape Cod.  Bob has been researching energy and climate issues for years.  Joan shied away from getting actively engaged out of fear of feeling overwhelmed and discouraged.  But on Bob’s 95th birthday in December 2012, when he told the family that he intended to devote what remains of his life to work on the Climate Crisis, Joan finally screwed up her courage and read Bill McKibben’s “Terrifying New Math…”  Together we entered “save the planet” mode.

As members of our Democratic Town Committee, we started there.  It didn’t take long to activate other like-minded members.  Some wrote letters, some did information gathering, and we were off and running.  In July the Massachusetts Democratic Convention will be devoted to updating the State Party’s Platform.  The Truro Democratic Town Committee will have at least nine people going to the convention as delegates and observers.  We have proposed a new section on the Climate Crisis for the Platform including a call for divestment of the State’s pension fund and other State funds from holdings in fossil fuel companies.  Updating and amending the Platform involves a long and complex process, including testimony from Platform hearings across the State.  We sent our proposed plank to over 300 Massachusetts Town Democratic Committees and got the endorsements from several of our neighboring towns.  The process is now in the hands of the Platform Drafting Committee and we are hoping our plank gets included.  If it does and gets approved by the convention delegates, it will give Massachusetts Democrats and other climate activists a tool we can use to push for divestment and other measures.

Next we wrote a resolution on the Climate Crisis and, by petition, got it into the Warrant for our Annual Town Meeting.  Our Board of Selectmen unanimously supported the resolution, which includes a call on the Governor and the State Treasurer to undertake divestment of state funds from fossil fuels companies.  The identical resolution was placed on the Town Meeting Warrant of our neighboring town, Provincetown.  The voters in both towns passed the resolution handily.

We are delighted to be part of a movement started by students several generations younger than us.  With young people at the helm, the planet stands a chance!

Bob and Joan Holt
Truro, MA

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Green Mountain College students at Mountain Justice Spring Break March 2013

The decision came from the President and the Board on Friday, May 10th, months after students started organizing for divestment at the college.  After a semester of pushing and staying on message, the administration agreed that the divestment team had the whole school behind them, and made the obvious choice for the famously sustainable liberal arts college.  Here is what went down:

In late February 2013 students from Campus Activism (Green Mountain College’s Climate Justice group) joined the student chorus for divestment in Vermont by kick-starting their own campaign.  They came out with a bang, hosting a teach-in asking students to “make GMC put its money where its mouth is”.  In early March, excited about the buzz the teach-in created on campus, students attending Mountain Justice Spring Break decided to put their heads together to figure out their strategic next steps for a divestment win by the end of the semester.

What came next reflected the prudent planning of the spring break team.  Students rallied the campus, obtained over 325 petitions (more than half the student body), built relationships with administrators, and worked with the student government to achieve a resolution for divestment (which was supported unanimously).  As all the moving pieces started coming together, students wondered if their power building on campus would translate into administrative buy-in.

After weeks of waiting to hear if their requests to meet with trustees and pitch their case would be met, students resolved to keep pushing, keep meeting with decision makers, and keep engaging the student body, knowing that a vote NO, or no vote at all, would need to mean escalation.  Their relentless efforts paid off when, on May 9th, they were given an audience with trustees and an opportunity to lay down their two demands; 1.) Immediately place a screen on the 200 fossil fuel companies as a part of an investment policy and freeze any new investment in fossil-fuel companies, and 2.) Commit to community dialogue with students, faculty, and staff to help define what ecologically and socially irresponsible mean.

After leaving the meeting with no answers, unsure if their asks had fallen upon deaf ears, students resolved to attend the final hours of the annual board meeting at President Fonteyn’s house the next day, where they learned that not only had the trustees listened, but they had voted for divestment and agreed to meet both student demands.

Congratulations to Campus Activism for the hard work that has gotten Green Mountain College on to what we know will become an even longer list of divesting schools.  A win for one of us is a win for all of us, and this week, the movement humbly salutes you.

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WASHINGTON D.C. — At this morning’s graduation ceremonies for American University’s School of Public Affairs Lisa Jackson, the commencement speaker and former head of the Environmental Protection Agency commended American students for their hard work on their fossil fuel divestment campaign, “I salute this school and it’s students for facing head on the issue of investments in fossil fuels and what that means to your individual futures.”

Following Jackson’s speech, many AU graduates accepted their diploma and shook President Neil Kerwin’s hand while wearing a small green circle on their commencement robes symbolizing their withholding of Alumni donations until American University commits to fossil fuel divestment.

Students at American University are part of a national movement of over 300 universities and institutions looking to divest their endowments from fossil fuel holdings in order to weaken the power of the fossil fuel industry and build the space for political action. American’s divestment campaign demands that the University immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies by putting a negative screen in the university endowment and second, establish an official dialogue with all university community members on divesting the endowment from current holdings in fossil fuel companies within the next five years.

Over the last year, the divestment campaign has had great success building support on campus: 15 different student groups have joined a coalition to push for divestment; 80% of students, over 2000 people, voted in favor of a fossil fuel free endowment; the Student Government unanimously endorsed the campaign, and the Faculty Senate passed a resolution in support of divestment, and more than 100 alumni have pledged not to donate to the endowment until the school divests.

Fossil Free AU hopes that Lisa Jackson’s endorsement will further push the University to change their investment policies. The Board of Trustees meets this upcoming Thursday and Friday to discuss financial policy, and despite repeat requests, Fossil Free AU has not yet been granted an opportunity to present their case. The group will be holding a Community Board Meeting on Friday Morning, May 17th at 9am on the Main Quad, where they will present the case for divestment to the campus community.

The post Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Endorses Divestment at American University Commencement appeared first on Fossil Free.

As climate activists, we know what its like to face powerful opposition.  We are fighting the most powerful industry in the world, and with that comes an understanding that we have a long road ahead of us.  Over the course of the semester, college students have been proving to themselves and this movement that they will stand firm against powerful interests on their campuses no matter what comes their way.  Their resolve has sparked a truly historic groundswell of action, dedication, and fearlessness.  As we head into a fearless summer, we thought we would share a unique story that inspires us to keep fighting.

Amherst College in Western Massachusetts is a campus with a story worth telling.  This semester, a group of students leading the Amherst Coal Divestment campaign accomplished a herculean feat by overcoming a campus culture that is resistant to activism and orchestrating one of the largest demonstrations of electoral student support in years, all with a team of new student organizers.  This is how it unfolded.

It all began last September when Deidre Nelms ‘13, returned to campus determined to launch a coal divestment campaign after a summer working with the Responsible Endowments Coalition in Brooklyn, NY . Amherst held one of the first divestment events of the year on September 7th with Bill McKibben rallying the Western Massachusetts community to align their investment practices with their values.

A small yet dedicated team of students spent the first few months of the campaign doggedly researching the college’s holdings and meeting with administrators, seeking to get a clearer picture of the companies Amherst invests in.  They were met with layers of bureaucracy and dwindling campus buy-in. “We sort of assumed that most students were on our side, but we never actually engaged with them, and so we were very vulnerable to the whims of the administration,” said Ned Kleiner ‘16.  “All they had to say was one “no,” and we would have been high and dry.  We didn’t have any student power to use as leverage.”  Frustrated and discouraged, the students grappled with a choice: cut their losses or completely change their strategy and re-brand the campaign.

The choice was made for them as a surge of interest in the campaign mid-year brought in a host of new faces who were energized and determined to put divestment back on the agenda for the May meeting of the Board of Trustees.  Rachel Om 13’ was one of the catalysts in implementing a new strategy.  With the support of local 350.org organizer, Katie MacDonald, and Hampshire student Alex Leff 16′, Rachel and the other members of the Amherst Coal Divestment team devised a Spring semester timeline that would push divestment to the center of campus life.

Their plan required the implementation of a quick succession of high-profile tactics.  First on the list was passing a student referendum.  The call for a referendum was triggered by blunt comments from student government representatives that no action would be taken unless the results of a student referendum were highly positive.

The coal divestment organizers began to pour all of their energy into turning out votes for the referendum.  “We knew we would need to hit every dorm on campus if we wanted numbers” said Om, “but what seemed like a daunting task became very feasible when we all signed up to take one or two dorms.”  After days of one-on-one conversations, class announcements, and tabling sessions they waited apprehensively for the results.

As the numbers poured in, the group was floored.  The referendum had passed with a staggering 88% approval rating, the highest majority of any student referendum for fossil fuel divestment in the country to date.  Even more surprising was the fact that more students voted for divestment than voted in the student government elections, with approximately 50% of campus participating.

After this overwhelming vote of confidence, the group’s second hurdle, a student government resolution formally endorsing divestment, became much more achievable.  The resolution was passed on April 30th, just days after the referendum.

These improbable victories have sparked a new found confidence in the student organizers and kindled an upwelling of support for student activism on campus.  “Working in the divestment movement has shown me that Amherst students are more than willing to take a stand on today’s important issues,” said Noah Lerner ‘16.  “I think our referendum will send a strong message to our administration: that Amherst Students do not support industries that endanger the lives and well-being of future generations.”

Looking ahead to the impending Board Meeting, Rachel Om is feeling good about the legacy of leadership she is leaving behind as she graduates; “I’m confident that the students who will have the opportunity to meet with the Board of Trustees are properly equipped to make a compelling case, especially because of all we have accomplished so far.”

What will happen at this May’s administrative meetings is so far unknown, but one thing is certain, the Amherst Divestment campaign is one to watch.  To support the Amherst Divestment Campaign please email ACDivest@gmail.com or visit the Facebook Page for ways to get involved.

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