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To: President Stanley

Stony Brook University: Divest from Fossil Fuels!

Because it is unconscionable to pay for our education with investments that will condemn the planet to climate disaster, we call on Stony Brook University 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, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Here on Long Island, we saw firsthand the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. That storm alone caused $50 billion in damages and left 90% of the island in the dark for days or weeks.

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 need to leave 80% of global fossil-fuel reserves in the ground, unburned, forever. The alternative is to dangerously warm the planet for thousands of years.

As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on Stony Brook University 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 Stony Brook 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.

Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States

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Updates

2016-01-18 18:04:42 -0500

50 signatures reached

2013-07-05 16:05:39 -0400

25 signatures reached