University of California Begins Fossil Fuel Divestment

Yielding to pressure from campaigners across the state who spent years pushing the University of California to divest its holdings from fossil fuels, the University system’s Chief Investment Officer announced yesterday that the $91 billion fund would begin by pulling all direct investments out of coal and tar sands mining companies. Those investments, totaling $200 million, have already been removed.
“This is a hard-fought victory for students and our allies from across California who have been demanding the UC truly live up to its big talk on climate change,” added Jake Soiffer, an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley and leader with Fossil Free UC.
The announcement came just days after the California State Legislature voted to force the two largest pension funds in the United States — the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System — to pull their combined $50 billion fund out of coal companies as well.….