WIKIMEDIA, THEDAILYNATHANThe California Academy of Sciences no longer has any direct investments in fossil fuel companies and has “begun to phase out all oil, gas, and mineral leases on lands with historic mineral rights given to us by donors,” Executive Director Jonathan Foley noted in a statement issued last week (August 21). He added that the academy is next looking to cut ties to fossil fuels from its endowment.
Divesting from fossil fuels is “the right thing to do morally, and the right thing to do institutionally,” said Foley. “While it may not solve the climate-change problem entirely, it is a step in the right direction.”
“This statement was a direct response to our call on museums to cut all ties with the fossil fuel industry,” Lindsay Meiman, a spokesperson for the advocacy group 350.org, told the San Francisco Chronicle. Meiman’s group is one of several that have called on scientific institutions to divest from fossil fuels in recent months.
