Faculty Power! CFA Endorses Divestment

The California Faculty Association, representing 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches in the California State University system, overwhelmingly approved a resolution asking CalPERS to divest from fossil fuels at their recent statewide Assembly. 14 of the 23 CSU campus chapters supported fossil fuel divestment by CalPERS: 11 passed their own resolutions and 3 voted to endorse the statewide resolution. Here’s the honor roll of supporters: Sonoma, East Bay , San Francisco, Chico, San Marcos, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, Sacramento, Long Beach, and San Diego. The three chapters that endorsed the statewide resolution are: Stanislaus, Humboldt and Fresno.

As the resolution states: “Climate change is an urgent threat to the world, and to effectively address climate change, most fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground. This makes fossil fuel stocks a risky investment.” And CFA’s newsletter asserts: “Like CFA’s previous campaign successfully lobbying CalPERS to cease investing in migration detention companies, members want the nation’s largest public pension fund to stop investing in fossil fuel companies. Climate change is an urgent threat to the world, and to effectively address climate change, most fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground. This makes fossil fuel stocks a risky investment. Also, “… Climate change is an issue of environmental justice, disproportionately impacting Indigenous communities, communities of color, and low-income communities due to historical oppression, inequity of power, and lack of access to resources for prevention and relief,” according to the resolution.

Conservation biologist and environmental studies professor Carlos Davidson and colleagues led the organizing effort that resulted in the statewide resolution. As CFA Vice President Kevin Wehr said, “I am proud of my union for joining the fight for climate justice with CFA’s resolution calling for CalPERS fossil fuel divestment.”