Sample Fossil Free petition to President/Board of Trustees/Regents (google doc)
Sample Alumni Letter to President/Board of Trustees/Regents (.docx)
Sample Letter to the President or Board:
Dear President/ Board of trustee/ regent [Name],
Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently; in this last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Hurricane Sandy alone caused $50bn in damages. Experts agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify these tragic climate disasters. The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming; we cannot safely burn even half of global fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years.
As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on [SCHOOL] to immediately freeze any new investment in fossil-fuel companies, and to divest within five years from direct ownership and from any commingled funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds. We believe such action on behalf of [School] will not only be a sound decision for our institution’s financial portfolio, but also for the wellbeing of its current and future graduating classes, who deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate chaos.
For the good of our students and our nation, and to preserve the quality of life for this and future generations worldwide, we call upon you to join a growing movement of schools around the country that are committed to preventing a more extreme climate by moving [School’s] endowment beyond fossil fuels.
Signed,
XXX
Published Examples:
Endowed with a Choice (Harvard Crimson)
Amherst and Coal Divestment (Amherst Student)
The Scoop on Sustainability: Take back your future (The New Hampshire, UNH)
Faculty group to organize, support SU Fossil Fuel Divestment campaign (Daily Orange)