Seeks ‘greater flexibility’ with endowment
Princeton University will no longer divest from “publicly traded oil and gas companies,” according to the endowment’s manager.
Vincent Tuohey, president of the Princeton University Investment Company, announced a shift from a 2022 policy to divest from oil and gas companies. However, the university is maintaining a separate 2021 decision to not invest in “thermal coal and tar sands.”
The decision will help the university with its goals, which include “net-zero endowment” by 2046.
He wrote in a June 1 letter:
It’s not obvious that Princo’s initial approach has moved the endowment meaningfully closer to net-zero, nor is it obvious that major energy companies will be out of bounds for a net-zero endowment. After all, this sector will necessarily play a significant role in the clean-energy transition we want for our nation and for the earth. These are questions we will explore in the years to come.
He said the decision gives the endowment “greater flexibility.”
The investments “are critical for financial aid and scientific research–including climate research–at a time when our sector is under financial strain.”
The campus newspaper’s associate opinion editor criticized the decision on June 3.
“The University should be ashamed of itself,” Isaac Barsoum wrote in The Daily Princetonian.
He continued:
The reversal comes at a time of immense peril for the climate, and consequently for human life: This month, heatwaves across the world, from Europe to India to the United States, have shattered temperature records and claimed at least hundreds of lives.
In this perilous hour, Princeton has chosen the oil billionaires, fossil fuel conglomerates, and climate-destroying special interests, pursuing marginal endowment gains by means of the destruction of the very planet it claims to value. In short, Princeton has chosen oil futures over our future.
Barsoum called for Touhey to resign or be fired.
“As the world burns, Princeton will continue to be confronted with the eternal question: Which side are you on,” Barsoum asked.
“With this decision, the University demonstrates that it remains squarely on the side of the climate deniers, the oil profiteers, the pipelines, the profits, and everyone but the people.”
