To: St. Michael's College Board of Trustees
SMC Alumni for Fossil Fuel Divestment
As alumni and donors, we call on St. Michael's College to divest from the top 200 companies involved in the exploration, ownership, or extraction of fossil fuels within the next 5 years.
Why is this important?
Almost all governments have agreed that a warming rise in 2 degrees celsius would create an unlivable planet. We have already raised the temperature of the planet .8 degrees, making it entirely unlike the thriving earth that once existed. The threat that climate change poses accelerated greatly by humans is huge and dire.
The acceleration of climate change by human beings is largely tied up in corporate control of natural resources like gas, coal, and oil. These companies that extract endlessly at the expense of human life and the natural world have five times as much carbon reserve than is safe to burn. They will continue to burn these assets until institutions like colleges and universities raise their voices and cause big oil to reconsider how they do business.
As a college, St. Michael's has the opportunity to pave the way for other Vermont schools to do the right thing. For a college supposedly entrenched in social justice principles, it only makes sense to stand with communities at the front lines of climate change by divesting our endowment from the corporations that are making this planet unlivable for us all and most directly impacting groups whose voices are often silenced.
As alumni, SMC relies on our donations to grow the endowment. By signing this petition, you are pledging to hold back on donating until the school divests. We have enormous power as alumni to steer the school in a positive direction economically, morally, and environmentally.
