Harvard Students Move Fossil Fuel Stock Fight To Court

mdsolar writes A group of Harvard students, frustrated by the university's refusal to shed fossil fuel stocks from its investment portfolios, is looking beyond protests and resolutions to a new form of pressure: the courts. The seven law students and undergraduates filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts against the president and fellows of Harvard College, among others, for what they call "mismanagement of charitable funds." The 11-page complaint, with 167 pages of supporting exhibits, asks the court to compel divestment on behalf of the students and "future generations."

Comments

Standing

[phantomfive]

This quote from the end of the article says it all:

"Lee Goldstein, a clinical instructor in the Harvard Law School legal aid bureau, said that the issue of whether the students were legally qualified to sue, known as standing, could be fatal to the students’ suit, as it was to the earlier suit brought by Mr. Bonifaz and others."

"could be" is a way of putting it politely.

Re:Standing

[schnell]

the issue of whether the students were legally qualified to sue, known as standing, could be fatal to the studentsâ(TM) suit

Precisely this. The whole case is in an idealistic sense understandable - if you are in college and you aren't challenging the real or imagined injustices of the world in some way, you're missing the whole point of being young enough to still be self-absorbed and righteous, but not old enough to be in the real world. But from a practical view, it's just a bunch of overprivileged Harvard kids looking for something to protest and wasting the time of our overburdened court system in the process. My 18-year-old me would applaud them but my current 40-year-old self thinks they should shut the f**k up and go do something useful instead.

Disclaimer: I know several Harvard alumni and count a few of them as my friends. I am probably unfairly biased against Harvard since in my experience these alums are (sorry friends) not noticeably smarter than everyone else - in some cases less so - in a way that justifies a Harvard degree being an automatic ticket to wealth and insider access. Which, unfortunately, it is.

Re:Standing

[Oligonicella]

They're hypocrites. If they don't like the policies the college has concerning investment, why are *they* investing in the college instead of finding another? They want to force the college to divest but they don't have the gonads to divest themselves.

The only thing worse than a lawyer

[thegarbz]

The only thing worse than a lawyer is a law student, they think they can use the courts for anything.

I'd like to see

[Vinegar Joe]

The entire Harvard faculty, student body and alumni sent to Syria where they can sue ISIS.

In a just world, they'd expel every one of them.

[HBI]

And they'd be justified.

Can other students sue this group?

[schneidafunk]

What happens if the investments in fossil fuel companies turn out the be the most profitable and the school loses money?

As Harvard's president said "the endowment is a resource, not an instrument to impel social or political change"

Re:Yeah, man

[HBI]

"Due process" has nothing to do with filing frivolous lawsuits without standing. That's just harassment. They didnt' like something so they are whining. They don't get to waste the college's endowment that way.

Turn off the electricity to the dorms

[sasquatch989]

Every night from 9pm-5am turn off the electricty. Better yet, random rolling blackouts. Let them know what it's like to live somewhere where energy has to be rationed. Kids take it for granted

Re:Turn off the electricity to the dorms

[Chas]

Okay, fossil fuel power makes up the bulk of the generation capacity in the US.

Nuclear power accounts for just under 20% of total power generation in the country.
Fossil fuel power accounts for just over 65% of total power generation in the country.

Renewables?

TOTAL renewable energy in this country comes out at about 13% of total generation capacity.

Hydro being about 66% of that 13% (or 8.58% of total capacity).
Solar? 3% of that 13% (or .0039% of total capacity).

I don't think the country is ready to have two thirds slashed out of its power budget.

Alumni politics.

[khasim]

There are, probably, several alumni who are employed by those companies who would not want to see the publicity of their high prestige alma mater taking a public stand against their business.

Sorry, kids. Part of the attraction of Harvard is the business/political connections it gives you.

Re:In a just world, they'd expel every one of them

[MouseTheLuckyDog]

No. The appropriate reaction is to toss the suit for lack of merit and standing. Then assign the court cost and the legal costs of the University to the students/plaintiffs.

THat also has the added advantage of teaching the students about money.