Thread by @billmckibben

Walloping Wolverines!! Huge divestment news out of Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan--as heartland a school as you can imagine--announces plans to stop investing in fossil fuels!
record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-s…

This is crucial because a) it's a big big endowment b) it's arguably, along with the already divested UC system, America's foremost public university and c) most of all, it's a huge reversal, won by courageous students. Here's what I mean:

When UMich refused to divest in 2015, the oil industry celebrated--indeed, they blazoned the words of its president, Mark Schlissel, across the front of their anti-divestment website, and they've been there ever since.

But students never gave up--ten were led away in handcuffs in 2019--and now Schlissel has reversed himself. Here's what he says now: "What's changed for me is my growing appreciation of the long-term financial risks to the university."

Schlissel continues: "Fossil fuel assets will diminish in value, perhaps more quickly than many realize. Companies that have good plans in place to become carbon neutral will be less risky investments during the energy transition. We have to take a long-term perspective."

Student campaigners @ClimateActionUM aren't claiming a complete victory--they note some wavering on deadlines and on natural gas. But man, these activists deserve the most fulsome praise. This is a remarkable shift.
docs.google.com/document/d/e/2…

Univ of California was a huge win--and Oxford, and Cambridge, and all the rest. But the Univ. of Michigan is in the absolute industrial heartland of America, down the road from the biggest car plants. If you want to sense the sea change that's underway, it's a good place to start