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To: President & Board of Trustees

Divest SJSU From Fossil Fuels

As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on San Jose State University and the Board of Trustees of the Tower Foundation 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 our University 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.

Why is this important?

It is not sustainable for San Jose State University to invest in fossil fuels. With fossil fuel dependency declining, investing in better performing stocks will be necessary for SJSU. As a student at San Jose State University, I want my school to have corporate social responsibility and not support the fossil fuel industry because of the effects it has on our environment.

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, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Hurricane Sandy alone caused $50 billion 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.

1 Washington Square, San Jose, CA, United States

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Updates

2017-05-07 01:49:20 -0400

25 signatures reached

2016-03-10 02:26:32 -0500

10 signatures reached