Boris Rasin, 2011
Boris Rasin, 2011
As global citizens, we helped defeat Apartheid. As united Americans, we exposed and toppled Big Tobacco. What do these victories have in common? The core belief that it is wrong to invest in immorality. The fact that we, as average citizens, used our collective might to rise up against seemingly insurmountable and institutionalized Wrongs. And finally, the recognition that through de-investment, or divestment, money talks both economically and socially.
Divestment, which refers to pulling out of certain investments, operates on the simple principle that it is wrong to make unethical or morally ambiguous investments. Humanity’s next challenge: divesting from the top 200 offenders of the fossil fuel industry until their practices show that they have humanity’s long-term best interests at heart. Which means these companies need to immediately stop exploring for new hydrocarbons, stop lobbying in federal and state governments to preserve their special tax breaks, and pledge to keep 80% of their current reserves underground forever.
America’s divestment from fossil fuels is becoming a real and successful option as people across the nation are banding together to pressure governing bodies and organizations to pull out of fossil fuel stock. Six universities, fifteen cities, and nine churches have already committed to fossil fuel-free investments. Unfortunately, information relating to the exact proportion that organizations or even governments invest in fossil fuels stocks is not readily available. But when we start to talk about city and academic institution portfolios that are in the millions (and billions!), even investment levels of 1% make a substantial difference.
The other main power of divestment is in its hugely symbolic public message. For fossil fuels, this means the divestment campaign will succeed in America by bringing back the discussion of climate change to national awareness. Largely abandoned by a cleverly waged battle of special-interest backed misinformation campaigns, an honest scientific dialogue of climate truths has been starkly missing in American society for the past several years.  So here are the truths: