Global Divestment Day, February 13-14, 2015.

 
Why a Global Divestment Day?
http://gofossilfree.org/divestment-day/

As governments fail to take bold action to confront the climate crisis and fossil fuel expansion continues at an ever increasing pace, it’s time for us to take matters into our own hands. Last September hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets as part of the People’s Climate March and global mobilisation making history with our collective demand for climate action.Worldwide people are standing up to the interests of the fossil fuel industry knowing they are the biggest obstacle to tackling the climate crisis.The fossil fuel industry has our political process in shackles with its financial might. But we are matching their financial might with a different kind of power. The power that comes from movements and the movement of the moment is divestment.Through divestment, we are directly challenging the social license of these corporations who have become rogue entities seeking profits at the expense of people and planet. And we need as many forces in society as possible to collectively say these companies are rogue companies.
The divestment campaign highlights a conflict that most politicians are reluctant to address. If the world is to avoid catastrophic global warming, most known fossil fuel resources need to stay in the ground. Yet fossil fuel companies not only plan to extract and sell their existing reserves but are exploring ever more sensitive territory to find new ones, thus ruining any chance of securing a safe planet.
This is why we need you to join the growing divestment movement as thousands come together on February 13-14 for Global Divestment Day to take action and demand institutions and individuals do what is necessary for climate action by divesting from fossil fuels. On Global Divestment Day we will move our public money out of fossil fuels and call on others to do the same. Together we will directly challenge the social license of the fossil fuel industry and break the climate deadlock before it’s too late. Together, we will begin to make fossil fuels history
 
To learn more, visit the Global Divestment Day website: http://gofossilfree.org/divestment-day/
 
This is What An Invitation Looks Like
 
 
By Miles Goodrich
http://gofossilfree.org/this-is-what-an-invitation-looks-like/
 
This is an invitation.
Five years ago, I was a high school junior sequestered away from global politics and carbon anxiety on Maine’s ragged coastline.  News from the Copenhagen Climate Summit, however, navigated its way through jutting peninsulas and shoddy internet to my farm-school in Wiscasset.  Normally tasked with scrubbing toilets or feeding dew-soaked sheep, for the week of the summit, I reported on climate talks to salt-of-the-earth Mainers.
On the final day, I stood up at breakfast, pushed in my chair, and announced that the negotiations had fallen apart without a binding treaty.  The United States would not lead the rest of the world in reducing carbon emissions.  As sixty disappointed students, teachers, and farmers turned back to their eggs, I tried to finish my glass of milk, fresh that morning from Adeline the cow.  It tasted bitter.  My future, it seemed, was in my own hands for saving.
This is an invitation to dig deep.
Five years later, the fossil fuel divestment movement is growing up.  From the coal mines of Australia to theslopes of Burnaby Mountain to the streets of New York, students have demonstrated that if our politicians will not lead, then we will.  And we have proven that when we stand united for an end to the era of fossil fuels,we get results.
This is an invitation to link up.
And we have the world’s attention.  As global leaders meet for a fourth time to discuss what they will do about climate change since creating this organizer five years ago, divestment has put the solution in the spotlight: fossil fuels must remain in the ground.  Students seem to be leaving their mark.
This is an invitation to take non-violent direct action.
On February 13th, 2015, after years of being told “no,” students will come together to say that the status quo is not good enough.  We expect better from our schools–better leadership, better investments.  Students from across the nation will join citizens internationally in the Global Divestment Day of Action.
Here’s the plan: over the next few months, we’ll gather our allies and craft action plans for strategic escalation–intentionally ramping our efforts up to block business as usual and demand climate justice. On February 13th, we will hold rallies, vigils, and press conferences announcing our intention to escalate in late March and April.  While our administrations might be afraid to take bold action on climate, we won’t be.
If you pledge to escalate through nonviolent direct action over the course of the spring, add your name tothis form. The next step is to get everyone on your campus to sign the pledge. We will add you to our mailing list to follow-up.
This is an invitation to change everything.
For more information, go to: http://gofossilfree.org
 
Are you in?
This post was written by Miles Goodrich and students driving the divestment movement.
###

Are UC Merced students starting a Global Divestment Day event?
###

For more information, seehttp://gofossilfree.org/divestment-day/