First things first. What is divestment?

 

Divestment is the act of removing stocks from a portfolio based on mainly ethical, non-financial objections to business activities of one or more companies (Source: Responsible Endowments Coalition). In other words, divestment is using the consumer power of money to make a political statement about the market. Divest Midd asks Middlebury College to put its $$$ where its mouth is, and stop supporting our society’s continued reliance on fossil fuels. We can do this by taking our money that is invested in fossil fuel corporations and moving it to support companies that don’t exploit our planet for the sake of profits.

 

Why is divestment important?

 

There is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence that burning fossil fuels (including oil, coal, and natural gas) is contributing to anthropogenic climate change. Without getting into the details of the catastrophic consequences that already have and will wreak havoc on communities around the world, it is safe to say that Middlebury can no longer feel morally justified in contributing to this destruction of our planet and the human lives it contains. Middlebury is widely recognized as a leader on environmental issues. We had the first Environmental Studies major in the country, we installed a biomass plant so that we could burn less oil for heat, and we have committed to becoming a carbon neutral campus by 2016. Fossil fuel divestment is the logical next step in our environmental trail-blazing.

 

Wait. How does divestment relate to carbon neutrality?

 

According to the Office of Sustainability, our campus is on track to be carbon neutral by 2016. Divest Midd disagrees with this statement. How can we truly consider ourselves carbon neutral, when we continue to fund the production of the very compounds (fossil fuels) that release all of that carbon dioxide when burned?

 

How much of Middlebury’s $900 million endowment is invested in fossil fuels?

 

According to Investure, Middlebury’s endowment manager, 3.6% of the endowment is invested in fossil fuels (Source: President Ron Liebowitz, “On the College’s Endowment,” an all-school email sent in Dec. 2012).

 

Will fossil fuel divestment hurt the endowment and/or financial aid?

 

No. Even when divesting from the entire oil, gas, and consumable fuels industry, divestment’s theoretical effect on returns will be negligible — a 0.0034% penalty on returns with a 0.0101% increase in risk (Source: Aperio Group, “Do the Investment Math: Building a Carbon Free Portfolio,” 2013). Additionally, returns on the endowment could take a hit for any reason, and Middlebury is prepared for this. In the 2008 financial crisis, Middlebury prioritized maintaining financial aid, and balanced the budget by reducing things like upgrades to campus buildings. CFO Patrick Norton has made it clear in conversations with us that maintaining need-blind financial aid is a top priority for the college, and we agree.