Prominent Climate Experts, Alumni Urge MIT to Divest from Fossil Fuels - by Joe Romm

Nearly three dozen well-known climate scientists, advocates, and alumni have called on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to heed its own experts’ advice and divest from carbon-intensive fossil fuel companies.  I’m an alum, and I joined James Hansen, Michael Mann, and many others in signing this open letter to MIT President L. Rafael Reif.

The university has been wrestling with what to do about climate change for a while now.  Although it is one of the leading centers of science and technology in the world — home to considerable expertise about climate science and its solutions — the university has no greenhouse gas target or any formal position on a host of key climate issues including divestment.
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The open letter notes that “the Climate Change Conversation committee that you set up, after extensive interaction with students, faculty, and outside experts, has recommended divestment from carbon-intensive fossil fuel companies.”  The committee’s excellent report from June, “MIT and the Climate Challenge” opens bluntly:

Humanity has a limited window of opportunity to avert the most catastrophic risks of climate change.

The report makes clear MIT has a unique responsibility to “remain true to its mission, contribute to solving humanity’s greatest current challenge, and ultimately ensure it is on the right side of history.”

Significantly, the committee called on MIT to “take an active role in both countering disinformation and disseminating accurate information on climate change as part of its mission in service to the nation and the world.”  Hear!  Hear!  The report notes that, “disinformation and misinformation are rampant in the climate arena and have strongly contributed to the gap between public perception and professional assessment of the looming threats.”

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