To: President Donna Randall

Albion College: Go Fossil Free!

Because it is unconscionable to pay for our education with investments that will condemn the planet to climate disaster, we call on Albion College 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.

Why is this important?

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, wildfires, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars.

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 Albion College 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 Albion College 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. Albion students deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate instability.

The Albion Vision states that the college "is a leader in preparing students to anticipate, solve, and prevent problems in order to improve the human and global condition." What greater global challenge do we face than climate change? 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 Albion College’s endowment beyond fossil fuels.

Albion College

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