LTE in the VSU newspaper, The Spectator, today. -jsq

To the Editor,

Climate change is the defining issue of our time.

Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that
humans are the cause. S.A.V.E.
believes that it’s time for people to become the solution.
Globally,
we are feeling the impacts of record-setting temperatures, most
notably in the extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels.


Recent

chemical (W.VA) and

coal ash spills (N.C.) add to the urgency
of moving beyond fossil fuel. Yet here on our campus there’s a
remarkable disconnect between the classroom and the board room.
Shockingly, the VSU Board of Trustees includes science deniers,
oblivious to the threat of climate change—and to the academic
integrity of this institution of higher learning.

Recently,

the Board dismissed S.A.V.E.’s

request that VSU rid its portfolio of fossil fuel holdings.
Board Chairman,
Wayne Edwards,

a financial analyst, cast doubt on



the study that accompanied our request.
But we ask you, who knows more about climate, a team of
2,000 scientists from 154 countries who have compiled data from more
than 9,000 studies, or a stock broker? Our point is that serious
decisions at this institution are being taken by people who lack the
proper credentials.

Chairman Edwards

dismissed socially responsible investing as nothing
more than a marketing ploy, observing that “Years ago, it was
all about alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and apartheid. Now it’s about
anthropogenic climate change.” That he regards these issues as
little more than slogans demonstrates his contempt for higher




learning and critical thinking. After all, it is

from VSU’s very own professors—who,
by the way, must conduct and publish valid
research in order to retain their jobs—that we have learned
about the damaging effects of fossil fuels.

For someone supposedly concerned with market ploys, Mr. Edwards
fails to recognize the fact that millions of dollars are poured into
the “climate denial industry” every yeal.

Koch Industries alone has poured $67 million dollars into think tanks and
organizations that actively work to propagate a false global warming
counter-narrative. That the Koch’s marketing ploy is effective is
reflected in the fact that only 57% of Americans recognize that
global warming is caused by human activity, a 40% difference from
the scientific community.

As many readers know, VSU has begun to utilize solar power to meet
its energy needs. Our school is also

one of 679 signatories of the

American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment which
reads in part,

“We recognize the scientific consensus that
global warming is real and is largely being caused by humans.”

But this commitment does not align with the position held by Wayne
Edwards and the Board of Trustees. Divesting from fossil fuel
companies is the next step in the institution’s pursuit of its
stated values.

Danielle Jordan

President,

S.A.V.E.