Mary Schellentrager, Divestment Campaign Coordinator, Energy Action Coalition
Students on 30 campuses across the country took bold action last week, pressuring their universities to divest from fossil fuels with creative tactics that included rallies, concerts, and street theater.
From California to Maine, Wisconsin to Tennessee, students last week showed that we have the power. We have the power to leverage higher education's $400 billion endowment dollars to solve this climate crisis. We have the power to reinvest in wind, solar, the green economy, and socially responsible companies. And collectively we have the power to bring the fossil fuel industry to it's knees.
This unprecedented momentum comes after 350.org's Do The Math tour, where Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, and local student leaders spoke to sold-out auditoriums in 21 cities.
Student leaders on over 150 campuses have collectively mobilized thousands of their fellow students, faculty, alumni, and administrators in support of divestment. The New York Times took notice last Tuesday when they featured divestment on the front page, profiling Do The Math and the first divestment campaign launched two years ago by Swarthmore Colleges' Mountain Justice. Campaign organizers at the Responsible Endowments Coalition posted a response for administrators and Time Magazine quickly followed suit in their coverage.
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