You might have seen us on the Main Green or read about our campaign in The Herald last year, but Brown Divest Coal is back. And once again, we’re asking the University to divest from the “Filthy 15,” five mining and 10 utilities companies that have consistently proven to be the highest-polluting coal companies within the United States, as determined by size, number of Environmental Protection Agency violations and environmental health impacts.
Last June, the Providence City Council voted to divest from the top 200 publicly traded companies with coal and petroleum assets. As a city, Providence — along with Seattle, San Francisco, Ithaca, N.Y. and several others — has taken a strong step away from fossil fuels. Unfortunately, University investments fail to align with our own city council’s resolution to “support a sustainable future where all people can live healthy lives without the negative impact of a warming environment.”
Brown Divest Coal stands in solidarity with a nationwide movement of college and university student groups organizing to ensure that their respective institutions divest. Over the past year, BDC has garnered incredible public support, such as the passage of an Undergraduate Council of Students resolution and the written endorsement of billionaire asset manager Tom Steyer. The Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies submitted its recommendation in April that the University begin coal asset divestiture.
Last May, the Corporation invited members of Brown Divest Coal to sit in on a Corporation meeting, something practically unheard of. The Corporation did not then vote on divestment but plans to do so this October. We call on all Brown students to uphold the University tradition of ethical inquiry through participating in the coal divestment discussion this fall.
In terms of size, coal assets represent a miniscule proportion of the Brown endowment, accounting for less than 0.1 percent, per Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Marisa Quinn’s statements in a prior Herald article. As an institution, Brown purchases the majority of its electrical power from TransCanda, which, like Rhode Island utilities, primarily uses natural gas and not coal-based electrical generation.
So why do we call for coal divestment?
Coal production disproportionately affects low-income communities where mines and coal-fired power plants are located. While direct mining fatalities averaged 35 per year between 2006 and 2010, coal-related deaths stemming from fly ash particulate exposure have been estimated at anywhere from 13,200 to 23,600 annually. According to a 1970s research study conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and later publicized in Science and Scientific American magazines, individuals who live within the stack shadow — half to one mile — of a coal-fired powered plant are exposed to equal or higher rates of radiation than those living the same distance from a nuclear facility. Mountaintop removal to make room for coal mining operations has proven to significantly disrupt ecosystem services in the surrounding natural environment.
In addition, we believe coal is a bad investment, given the global push for increased carbon regulation, whether in the form of direct taxes or cap-and-trade allocations. Last July, the World Bank Group announced it would eliminate financial support for coal production in developing countries except in rare circumstances. This September, the EPA released a proposed rule for new coal-fired power plants that would effectively eliminate future coal-fired power plant construction without the commercialization of carbon capture and sequestration, known as CCS, or “clean coal,” technology. Though EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has said CCS could prove a viable option, the fact remains that not a single commercial scale CCS coal facility operates today. Clean coal, at least for the time being, is a myth.
Perhaps most importantly, as a group Brown Divest Coal aims to take an ethical and ideological stance against the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. Coal is arguably the number one contributor to climate change, an issue that may have once seemed solely environmental but now threatens to severely impact the economic and physical security of current and future generations. Within its divestment recommendation, ACCRIP makes it absolutely clear that “the harms associated with these companies’ business practices are so grave that it would be deeply unethical for Brown University to continue to profit from them.”
We hope the Corporation will take this opportunity to cement the University’s reputation as a cornerstone of progressive action and social advancement. In the past, the Corporation has voted to divest from tobacco, companies within apartheid South Africa, HEI Hotels and Resorts, and businesses with ties to human rights violations in Darfur.
Though the Corporation may vote no this fall — or potentially postpone a vote altogether — a yes vote would solidify the great things that set Brown apart from its academic peers: a continued commitment to ethical inquiry, demonstrated progressive leadership and rigorous analysis of contemporary issues. Many of us may have chosen to attend Brown for these very reasons. ACCRIP, the Undergraduate Council of Students, the Graduate Student Council, thousands of students and hundreds of faculty and alums have all endorsed divestment as an ethical imperative. A yes vote would confirm the Corporation’s trust in us.
For more information about Brown Divest Coal, visit www.browndivestcoal.org or attend the Divestment Teach-In Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Buonanno Hall 106.
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