[ The following letter was published in The News-Gazzete on Feb. 6 2022 and The Daily Illini on Feb 5. 2022]
Divestment moves slowly
The University of Illinois pledged to fully divest from fossil fuels by 2025 in the Illinois Climate Action Plan 2020. This means the UI would divest holdings in fossil-fuel companies and re-invest that money in other areas.
Students have been demanding divestment from fossil fuels since 2009. In 2019, 75-plus percent of the student body voted in support of divestment. The action plan’s glaring flaw? It’s a nonbinding document, and the administration’s lack of action suggests that they made empty divestment promises.
Right now, the UI system (public funds) and the UI Foundation (private donations) have over $230 million invested in fossil fuels. Universities all over the world have already fully divested or announced their intent: Harvard, the Minnesota and California systems, Dartmouth.
If the UI is such a leader and innovator, why is it dragging its feet while our peers leave us in the dust? As the effects of climate change hit ever closer to home, it’s evident that there’s no time to lose. The UI disregards the desires and well-being of its people while it selfishly chases dirty profits.
Staff, students, faculty and community members cannot let this issue fall to the wayside. Read up on the environmental and human health implications of not divesting. Question why the UI isn’t listening to student voices.
Readers can reach out to Students for Environmental Concerns at uiuc.secs@gmail.com if they are interested in joining the effort. The UI must do better.
-MARIA MARING