Stanford climate activists slam university over fossil fuel vote

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

World | Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:23pm EDT

Stanford climate activists slam university over fossil fuel vote

SAN FRANCISCO | BY RORY CARROLL

Stanford University's announcement on Monday that it will not rid its $22 billion endowment of oil and gas companies has raised the ire of campus climate activists, who said on Tuesday they will protest the decision.

Activists felt they had momentum on their side after Stanford two years ago said it would no longer invest in coal mining companies, whose products are a major contributor to global climate change.

But the Stanford Board of Trustees said on Monday it was not clear that the social injury caused by the companies outweighs the social benefit of providing energy to billions of people around the world.

The university said it would have sold holdings in companies that specialize in producing crude from oil sands, a carbon-intensive extraction method. But since the endowment has no direct exposure to those companies, no action needed to be taken.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-environment-stanford-idUSKCN0XN2WR

[2naSalit]

1. They have to tread lightly on such topics

Don't want to lose that petrodollar for skewed research. When the government funds the research more than petrocorps, then we will be able to trust their research.