Protesters urge Pitt vote on fossil fuel divestment
As several alumni met privately Tuesday with University of Pittsburgh administrators to urge a school vote next month to shed its fossil fuel financial holdings, protesters nearby kept up the pressure to divest with a noon rally.
About two dozen members of the Fossil-Free Pitt Coalition listened to speeches outside the Cathedral of Learning in support of divestment and waved signs, including a large banner that read, “We’re still here.”
The group has been prodding the university for five years to remove those investments from its $4.3 billion endowment. Undergraduates, faculty and alumni in the crowd applauded as speakers said that with so many organizations already divesting, doing otherwise is being complicit in environmental damage.
“How can a university that claims to be on the forefront of sustainability (help) cause such harm,” asked Prem Rajgopal, 24, of Fox Chapel, a graduate student in sustainable engineering.
The university released a report from a campus advisory group formed in January 2018 by Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher to consider the issue. The chancellor said Pitt would create an approach for socially responsible investments.
However, he stopped short of endorsing divestment from holdings in coal, oil, gas and related industries in a letter to campus in late August.
In September, Coalition members formally called on Pitt to hold a vote by February to divest from fossil fuels. The full
board meets Feb. 28 in Pittsburgh, but it’s not certain if any action or public discussion will occur.
Pitt graduate Ellen Dorsey, executive director of Wallace Global Fund, a Washington D.C. foundation, was among four alumni who met for 50 minutes with the chancellor’s chief of staff, Kevin Washo, and Kathy Humphrey, senior vice chancellor for engagement and secretary to the board.
Ms. Dorsey said the group urged Pitt and its board to act next month. She said 1,000 organizations globally have done so, with $12 trillion in assets.
“This is not a fringe issue,” she said.
Holding a “Divest Now” sign Tuesday as she bundled up against the cold outside the Cathedral, Erica Jackson, 24, a 2017 environmental studies graduate, said Pitt needs to understand the issue matters to her peers.
“We want to be proud of the university we went to, the university that taught us climate change is a real threat,” said Ms. Jackson, who works for an environmental nonprofit.
University officials have insisted they are committed to fighting climate change by considering investment policy revisions that take into account environmental, social and governance criteria.
“Our chief financial officer is working toward the goal of presenting the environmental, social and governance criteria to the investment committee of the Board of Trustees for consideration by February,” spokesman Kevin Zwick said in September.
“This criteria will screen for investments that align with the university endowment’s investment objectives and our institutional values. The CFO’s office is also developing a clear approach for screening and presenting proposed investment exclusions to the board.”
Members of Fossil-Free Pitt, a coalition of campus organizations, were buoyed by a September announcement that one of the nation’s largest public campus systems, the University of California, announced it was eliminating its own fossil fuel investments, calling it a better investment strategy.
Officials there said the university’s $13.4 billion endowment would be divested fully by month’s end and its $70 billion pension fund would follow.
After the meeting with alumni, Pitt reiterated its interest in sustainability and said it has manifested in such ways as establishing an Office of Sustainability, realizing a 22.2% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2008; and using local low-impact hydro-power that will provide around 25% of its annual electricity usage.
“This work is ongoing and includes discussions like the one we had today with alumni who shared their ideas and concerns about divesting from fossil fuels. The conversation was productive and informative,” Pitt’s statement read in part.