Join the global climate strike to end fossil finance

by Tufts Climate Action

“An important goal of the conversion to oil,” political theorist Timothy Mitchell writes, “was to permanently weaken the coal miners, whose ability to interrupt the flow of energy had given organized labor the power to demand the improvements to collective life that had democ - ratized Europe.” In his seminal work “Carbon Democracy,” Mitchell provocatively argues that transitions in global energy regimes are based less on inherent needs than transnational capital’s assault on democratic pressures from below. For a school that prides itself on its civic education and vast alumni network in public and international ser- vice, Tufts University has yet to take a committed stance on fossil fuels, whose contribution to climate change poses the gravest threat not only to liberal democracy but also to our very survival. With the conviction that Tufts should and is able to become a leading institution in shaping a greener future, we as Tufts Climate Action have teamed up with climate activist groups across Massachusetts to organize a climate strike on Friday, March 3, on Tufts campus at 10:15 a.m. at the Mayer Campus Center’s lower patio. We will then travel together to downtown Boston at 11:15 a.m. to join the city-wide rally.

Despite TCA’s over-a-decade-long campaign for Tufts to fully divest from fossil fuels, it is no secret that Tufts maintains a large holding of fossil energy in its financial portfolio.

As, in 2022, 3.8% of Tufts’ $2.4 billion endowment was invested in “broad energy sectors,”

TCA estimates that Tufts still holds a $90 million investment in fossil fuel industries. Even though the Board of Trustees announced in 2021 its intent to ban direct holdings in coal and tar sands companies, $26 million, or 1.1% of Tufts’ endowment, is still devoted to them via indirect holdings. Our efforts in this regard pale in comparison to what we deem as ‘peer institutions’: Amherst College, Wesleyan University, Smith College, Brandeis University and Boston University have all committed to full divestment from fossil fuels in the foreseeable future. In fact, the worldwide campaign for institutional divestment has accumulated