Fossil Fuel Divestment Joined by the Founders of Standard Oil

September 23, 2014 – The family foundation built on the wealth gleaned from oil has announced plans to begin divesting its fossil fuel holdings. We are referring to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The fund will begin its divestment by selling off coal and Canadian oil sands company shares. It will then review what remains and determine additional divestment over the next two years.

The foundation, which arose from John D. Rockefeller‘s success in developing Standard Oil from its roots in 1870 to an energy giant, is participating in today’s United Nations discussions on climate change. The president of the fund, Stephen Heintz is quoted as stating, “The science is crystal clear……we’ve just got to leave the bulk of the remaining fossil fuels in the ground.”

More than 1,000 companies and large institutional investors have expressed the desire to see a price put on carbon emissions. Among them is Royal Dutch Shell. And large institutional investors managing $24 trillion U.S. have also indicated a need to implement carbon pricing.

Divestment is a strategy that is gaining momentum. It began as a student-inspired protest on university campuses and continues to gather speed. The rationale for this approach can be found in prior postings on this blog site. Type “divestment” in the Search field near the top of any page of this blog and read about the why and how of this growing trend.

Related articles across the web

• Headlines: Exxon to Account to Shareholders for Potential Unburnable Assets
• How College Kids Helped Divest $50 Billion From Fossil Fuels
• VIDEO: Rockefellers to divest fossil fuels