USC Fossil-Free Plea !

Because climate change is accelerating and because institutes of higher education have an obligation to help develop new, cleaner energy forms, especially since these are the very places most of us learn of the evils of fossil fuels. Colleges and universities are supposed places of transparency; places of learning and betterment through education, not hypocrisy, otherwise our degrees are worthless !

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 and harming the diversity of life on this planet.

As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on The University of South Carolina 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 The University of South Carolina 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 and stressed life forms.

Humans have an obligation to do the right thing. . . we must do it !