IUSA resolution to divest from fossil fuel companies tabled

When it came to pressuring IU’s leadership to make campus carbon-neutral, IUSA kicked the can.

After debate, a resolution calling for the IUSA executive board to urge President Michael McRobbie and the IU Board of Trustees to divest from publicly traded fossil fuel companies was tabled Wednesday.

Congressional Resolution 13-14-22 acknowledges the University’s desire to become a carbon-neutral campus as part of the Energy Master Plan.

According to the resolution, a think tank led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan found climate change causes 300,000 deaths annually and causes $125 billion in international damages.

The resolution calls for the University to cut ties with fossil fuel companies in an effort to decrease those statistics and make the campus more environmentally friendly.

Shaw said the debate lasted about 30 minutes and generated a strikingly close vote among the almost 30 members in attendance, which prompted the decision to wait on the final vote until next semester.

“The vote was close, and we decided to table the bill so Congress people can do more research,” he said.

Among those voicing dissent was Michael Su, a representative of the Jacobs School of Music.

“This resolution is at best ineffective and at worst dangerously destabilizing towards the goals of the University and its student body,” Su said in the letter.

He argued the University’s divestment from these companies would make no significant strides in reducing emissions worldwide, and the companies would continue their success with or without IU’s support.

“Simply selling IU’s stakes in these companies will result in corporate investors moving in, allowing these companies to continue to pursue their own agendas and doing nothing to reduce emissions worldwide,” Su said.

Su also said he disagrees with the resolution because its facts, such as the mention of General Annan’s think tank, are mentioned without proper context.

Though he does not support the resolution, he said he understands the motives behind it and said he does not doubt the sincerity of resolution’s proponents.

“I believe that it is great that we have a very vocal and active student community that is heavily invested in these issues,” Su said. “That being said, I do believe that divestment is the wrong course for IU.”

Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.