Mayor Paul Soglin threw his support behind 350.org's "Fossil Free" campaign, pledging to keep Madison free of fossil fuel investments and working to convince other units of local government to do the same. Soglin's decision came just a few months after Bill McKibben, a leading climate crusader and founder of 350.org, came to Madison on his national "Do The Math" sustainable-fuel bus tour. McKibben hopes to hit the fossil fuel industry where it hurts the most, on its bottom line campaigning to convince universities and municipalities to divest from fossil fuels.
Modeled on the successful effort to get colleges, pension funds, churches, cities, and states to divest from apartheid South Africa, the groups are asking ethical investors to freeze new investments in fossil fuel companies and divest from direct ownership or commingled funds, which include public equities and corporate bonds. The top 500 colleges and universities alone hold endowments worth an estimated $400 billion. Removing fossil fuel investments from this sum, will make "ExxonMobil, Shell, and Peabody sweat," says 350.org.
To date, 11 cities have announced their divestment, and student and community organizers are working on active divestment campaigns in cities and on University campuses around the country. Madison joins San Francisco, CA, Richmond, CA, Berkeley, CA, Bayfield, WI, Ithaca, NY, State College, PA, Eugene, OR, Santa Fe, NM, and Boulder, CO in committing to divesting, along with Seattle, WA, which committed to divestment last fall.