Starting a Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign
The Struggles and Successes of Our Movement
A few years ago, I graduated from a program called Movement School, which aims to equip the next generation of organizers with the skills needed to bring change to their community. The program was founded by organizers of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s team — a team that paved a path to her 2018 election to Congress, beating out the long-time incumbent, Joe Crowley. Despite being one of the younger organizers in the group, I left this program feeling empowered to create bigger and bolder change. I was already involved in the Sunrise Movement — a youth-led climate movement — and had just finished working on Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign for Governor of Michigan. But I was ready to start something new. Something from scratch.
Building on my work in environmentalism, I decided to branch off and create a new environmental initiative on my school campus. In the back of my mind, I had always thought about working on divestment. I knew environmental activists who had worked on this issue at Swarthmore College. Before I go too far, it’s important to understand what divestment actually means. Divestment is about pulling one’s investments in the fossil fuel industry — both direct and indirect — out of one’s investment portfolio and reinvesting this money into clean, renewable sources of energy.
Climate change has already wreaked havoc on our economy and society. It is the reason why immigrants are forced to leave their homes. It is the reason why natural disasters have become increasingly intense. And it is not only the effects of climate change that are the problem; it is also the causes themselves that pose a massive threat to our public health. Climate change is the result of rising carbon dioxide emissions, which largely stems from fossil fuel corporations. My previous article — “This is an Emergency: Why Polluter Pay Legislation Should Be Michigan’s Defining Issue” — goes into more detail on this issue.
Out of this fear for the future of our generation, I started meeting with another organizer whom I had worked with in the past. Eventually, this core group expanded to three people. As we began meeting with the Board of Trustees, Chief Investment Officer, and other high-level administration officials, we initially felt deeply unprepared. They used financial terms that we didn’t understand, and gave us complicated financial explanations for why divestment wasn’t really a possibility. Over time, however, we started to see right through these responses. The university has hidden behind vague justifications to maintain their involvement in the fossil fuel industry.
When making decisions along the way, there were certainly disagreements between us in choosing how to go about our plan. Coming from Sunrise Movement — a more radical environmentalist movement — I had a mindset that was focused on direct action and protest. I wanted to be in the streets. I wanted to organize. I wanted a revolution on campus that would change the culture at an incredibly important time. But I also learned from other organizers about the different avenues to change. Yes, it is important to protest, but protest can be done inside and outside the system. Protest is about standing in solidarity throughout the streets, but it’s also about passing resolutions in student government and meeting with university officials.
Ultimately, we developed a multi-pronged approach that built two kinds of power that I often learned about in the Sunrise Movement: 1) people power and 2) political power. We developed a network of supporters across Michigan State’s campus and even across Michigan, organizing community events and mobilizing supporters on Twitter. We worked with the student government and passed a major bill advocating for a student representative on the University Investment Advisory Subcommittee. Unfortunately, this process has been blocked by the Board of Trustees. This is something that we must continue to push.
The Board of Trustees blocked the student government bill to add a student representative to the Investment Subcommittee. They claimed that students lack financial expertise. I should note that we had already compromised in not giving this potential student any sort of voting power in the decisions made. So what do the Trustees have to worry about when it comes to expertise? At the Board of Trustees’ public comment session, we expressed our deep resentment at this decision. You can read our full letter on the decision here.
One of the other things that we noted in this letter is the issue of offshore investments. While offshore investments can be used legally, it is certainly not ethical. As we note in the letter, MSU was implicated in the Paradise Papers, which was an investigative report that leaked information about millions of different institutions and their ties to offshore investments. When given the opportunity to speak on this issue, the Board of Trustees chose to ignore it. We should, and must, continue to demand answers.
As my time at Michigan State comes to a close, I feel that it is time to pass the baton onto the next generation of students. It is difficult to graduate and know that you have not achieved your ultimate goal, but know that we, MSU Divestment, will continue to push for equity and justice in every corner of our community. As a team, we recently put out an official closing statement to our supporters, which outlines our achievements as well as the work that still needs to be done. I write in this letter, “The administration has dismissed students’ opinion, worked to obfuscate information, and delayed action. They hope that students will graduate and everything will return to business as usual. MSU has engaged in textbook strategies to delay action, and our job, as students, activists, and alumni, is to break this cycle.”
Successful social movements are cross-generational. As I mention in a previous article, we stand on the shoulders of the movements that come before us. The soil of change is fertile, but we need future generations to keep watering it.
P.S.— Below I have attached some of our press articles for future generations of students to build on our work. Although I am sure that I missed some important pieces, these articles contain lots of useful information about our work along with interviews featuring many of our dedicated organizers.
- “Big Ten Students Call for Fossil Fuel Divestment” — Wendy Guzman, The State News
2. “Divestment Day Rally Calls for MSU to End Fossil Fuel Investments” — Wendy Guzman, The State News
3. “MSU Signs Contract with NextEra Energy for 20 MW Solar Array” — Jacob May, The State News
4. “ASMSU Advocates to Divest from Fossil Fuels, Pass CROWN Act” — Anastasia Pirrami, The State News
5. “MSU Recognized on Earth Day for Reducing Energy Use by 21%” — SaMya Overall, The State News
6. “U of M Freezes Fossil Fuel Investments” — Wendy Guzman, The State News
7. “Students, Professor Explain Importance of Climate Change in Upcoming Election” — SaMya Overall, The State News
8. “A 100-Acre Solar Array Will Save MSU Money, Increase Renewable Energy Use” — Mark Johnson, Lansing State Journal
