Why University of California is dumping fossil fuel stocks

Despite years of student pressure, the university says market conditions sealed the deal.

By Lonnie Shekhtman

The University of California system was the latest organization to sell off $200 million worth of fossil fuel stocks from its investment fund, it announced yesterday.

UC’s chief investment officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher made the announcement at a meeting of the UC regents’ investment committee yesterday. He explained that a “slowing global demand, an increasingly unfavorable regulatory environment, and a high threat of substitution pose insurmountable challenges to coal mining companies,” encouraged the committee’s decision to divest from coal and oil sand companies, The Los Angeles Times reported.

But relentless public pressure also played a role. Students, faculty, and alumni across the university’s 10 campuses have been pressuring administration for several years to divest from the fossil fuel holdings in its $98 billion investment portfolio.

For the full article, click on the link below.
[Source]: The Christian Science Monitor