The IU Graduate and Professional Student Organization wants the IU Foundation to pull its investments out of fossil fuel companies.
The Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board, while supportive of the spirit of the proposal, has some concerns.
The initiative, known as divestment, has been supported by organizations such as the IU Student Association and the Student Sustainability Council.
However, the proposal hasn’t passed unanimously.
The divestment initiative was presented to the Residence Halls Association General Assembly, which voted unanimously, minus some ?abstentions, to reject the ?proposal.
Members of the assembly voiced some concerns, including that the GPSO could not present any facts to support its initiative.
We cannot find any facts ?either.
In reality, the IU Foundation does not release the specifics of its portfolio, mainly because that financial records and investments are not generally accessible, so they cannot be used for harm, and to protect members.
Beyond the lack of transparency, the GPSO is basing all of its arguments on financial ?reasoning.
It claims that, with government regulation, fossil fuels will eventually become obsolete, which will shut down corporations and cost the IU Foundation a significant sum of money.
However, the GPSO cannot back up this claim.
Besides the fact it does not know how much the IU Foundation invests in natural resources, the Editorial Board does not believe fossil fuels are going anywhere anytime soon.
While we support a transition to a cleaner, more renewable economy, that process is one that is difficult.
For decades, people have fought against the use of oil, and today the United States still consumes more than 18.89 million barrels of oil per day.
So because the IU Foundation isn’t losing money on any fossil fuel investments it might or might not have, the GPSO is asking it to make a preemptive strike.
Divest now and you might save or make money in the ?future.
However, we see this as risky.
Green companies are untested investments; they’re much newer and under-?invested.
For all we know, the ?Foundation could reinvest in a solar energy company only to have that company go under, ?potentially costing the Foundation?millions.
Meanwhile, IU continues to use coal at a rate that outpaces all other fossil fuels.
It used more than 70,000 tons of coal in 2005 alone.
The GPSO could focus on working collaboratively with the IU Foundation, the administration or other officials and groups on campus to try and institute more green ?initiatives on campus.
That would work.
With the same amount of effort it’s putting into a campaign that lacks a backing of facts, it could be working to put solar panels on Ballantine Hall or trying to re-invent how IU ?recycles.
Those initiatives, however, don’t create the headlines or attention this campaign has garnished.
If the GPSO really wants to promote sustainability and green living, which we support, then it should proceed with initiatives that are backed up by facts and have a chance of ?being implemented.
Otherwise, it’s just gathering votes and standing in the ?spotlight.
