Posts by Robert Silvey
Global Divestment Day in Sacramento
On February 13 at 12 noon, we will launch the Fossil Free California campaign with a rally in Sacramento. It’s Global Divestment Day, and we’re joining people around the world to urge pension funds, universities, cities and states, faith groups, and other institutions to divest from Old Energy. Some of the largest fossil fuel investments in the…
Read moreCalifornia emissions are down, but not enough
California is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Existing laws and regulations have put the state on track to meet our aggresive climate goals for 2020 and 2030. That’s the good news. But we need to do a lot more to avoid catastrophic warming in the longer term. That’s the difficult news. The good news and the difficult news both…
Read moreGlobal Divestment Day is coming!
This has been a year of great successes for the divestment movement around the world, and Global Divestment Day February 13–14 will celebrate those successes. Here in California, Chico State and Humboldt State universities voted to get rid of all their investments in fossil fuel companies, as did the Foothill–De Anza and Peralta community college districts and Pitzer…
Read moreWe don't need more fossil fuels
Exploration for new fossil fuel deposits should stop now, because we have already discovered far more than we can safely burn. That means no fracking, no oil rigs in the Arctic, no tar sands. It also means no investment in fossil fuel companies as long as they continue to use their profits to “drill, baby, drill” —…
Read moreA time for renewed hope—and action
The end of the year is a time for evaluation and introspection. What have we achieved? What do we want to achieve? Like everyone else, those of us who care about averting climate chaos are thinking about what has happened in 2014—and what might be possible in 2015. Looking backward, in fact, is heartening: the climate movement…
Read moreChico State divests
Herb Caen, longtime columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle, used to look down his metropolitan nose at Chico, claiming that the Safeway there carried Velveeta cheese in the gourmet food section. Chico, he said, was a hick town. If that was ever true, it certainly isn’t now. Chico today is a leader in environmental sustainability, and Chico…
Read moreNo coal in your stocking
Burning any fossil fuels is bad for the planet. We must stop extracting long-buried carbon from underground and spewing it into the atmosphere, creating a suicidal heat shield. But of all the types of fossil fuels, coal is the worst. It’s dirty, unhealthful, and carbon-intensive. It’s also, unfortunately, readily available and transportable, and it’s easy…
Read moreDivest for financial security
Public policymakers, when they look carefully at the facts about climate change, usually conclude that it’s essential to divest from fossil fuels. The slide toward climate chaos must be resisted with every weapon, and it doesn’t make sense for public leaders to remain invested in products that are destroying the world they are trying to…
Read moreIs gas too cheap?
If you filled up your car in California this week, you probably noticed it didn’t cost much. Gasoline is a bargain, on average just $3.06 a gallon across the state. Even in high-priced San Francisco, it’s cheap: $3.24, and falling fast. Compare this to the statewide average of $4.26 a gallon six months ago, and…
Read moreWelcome!
Welcome to Fossil Free California. We are a movement dedicated to a prosperous future for California. Our state can thrive without the dirty power of fossil fuels—oil, gas, and coal. With your help, Fossil Free California will publicize the dangerous policies of fossil fuel companies and begin to reduce their power to destroy the climate.…
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