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Fossil fuel divestment rally to be held at Princeton University Saturday

“Divest or it’s just more hot air.” File photo from a September, 2019 rally in Princeton.

The group Divest Princeton will host a campus rally at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, to call on university officials to move the school’s investment capital out of stocks, bonds and funds of oil, coal, and gas companies.

The “Delay is Denial” rally will begin at the FitzRandolph Gate in front of Nassau Hall. Masks and social distancing will be required at the rally.

Speakers at the rally will include members of Divest Princeton, as well as members of co-sponsoring groups on campus, in addition to Princeton faculty members and community supporters.

Princeton University’s Resources Committee is set to recommend divestment to the school’s board of trustees in early May. The trustees are expected to take up the divestment issue in the coming months.

Fossil fuel mining, exploration, and extraction all are capital-intensive activities that demand constant access to capital. Fossil fuel divestment is an attempt to reduce climate change by exerting social, political, and economic pressure on the institutional divestment of assets including stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments connected to companies involved in extracting fossil fuels. The movement also encourages investment in climate solutions. Fossil fuel divestment campaigns began on campuses in 2011, with students urging their administrations to turn endowment investments in the fossil fuel industry into investments in clean energy. All eight Ivy League student body presidents have called on their schools to divest from fossil fuel industry companies.