SCRIPPS COLLEGE: GO FOSSIL FREE!

Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently, for in the 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. From Hurricane Sandy to Typhoon Haiyan, we have seen just a glimpse of the destruction the future will hold. 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 a fifth of global fossil fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet. Climate change is already affecting and will continue to disproportionately affect people of color and those living in poverty. People from countries that have done the least to contribute to climate change will suffer the most from the actions of affluent polluters. Thus, divestment is a matter of achieving climate justice for all.

As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on Scripps College to immediately freeze any new investments 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 Scripps College will not only be a sound decision for our institution’s financial portfolios but also for the well-being of its current and future graduating classes who deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate catastrophe. We can only fulfill Ellen Browning Scripps’ vision of living “confidently, courageously, and hopefully” on a planet not devastated by climate change.