‘Do it all, do it right’ a better UNM investing plan

How much sense does it make for a public university that gets nearly a third of its state funding from oil and gas revenue to eschew investment in fossil fuels?

Yet that’s what the group known as 350.org (for the target level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) and Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, asked University of New Mexico regents to do this week.

Of the $296.7 million that UNM received from general fund allocations, $104.1 million can be attributed to oil and gas, according to the New Mexico Tax Research Institute. Factor in companies that depend in great part on fossil fuels — plastic, cosmetic, clothing, automotive, etc. — and what, exactly, should UNM invest its foundation money in?

Climate change is an important and incredibly complex issue that must be dealt with. But this isn’t the way to do it. It’s pure posturing and an approach already rejected by many universities such as Columbia, Harvard and the University of California that aren’t in a state where oil and gas is a huge part of the economy.

A better approach is the one that has been advocated by the state’s senior senator. In an op-ed last year, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said “energy development is another unprecedented opportunity for New Mexico and our nation. We need to ‘do it all and do it right’ — oil and gas are booming in New Mexico, providing millions of dollars for education. And with policies that encourage the production of clean energy, we can create a clean energy economy that leads the world in producing the jobs of the future.”

That approach sends the message that New Mexico understands the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, expand opportunities for green energy and all the while ensure reasonably priced power and funding streams are preserved through the transition.

Especially for an educated university audience, that’s a more reasoned — and realistic — message than dumping the fossil fuels that keep the lights on.