10 signatures reached
To: South Seattle College
To South Seattle College
Calling on South Seattle College to divest any funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds and freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies. Paying for education at the expense of our planet is morally wrong and against the goal of academia in making students and the community better through education. Other local entities including the City of Seattle and the University of Washington have taken this positive path and it's time for South Seattle to help lead the way to a better tomorrow.
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, 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.
As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on South Seattle College to immediately freeze any new investment in fossil-fuel companies, and to divest within two 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 South Seattle 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, who deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate chaos.
Our community has spoken loud and clear as we've already seen other local entities in the University of Washington and the City of Seattle divest while hundreds of loyal citizens express their frustration at the Port of Seattle for allowing Shell to dock in our waters. It’s up to academia like South Seattle College to lead the way for it’s community and be an example of how educational institutions are bettering the planet and our future- not investing in its failure.