Stanford U. Endowment to Divest Stock in Coal Companies

Stanford University announced Tuesday it will purge its $18.7-billion endowment of stock in coal-mining businesses, becoming the first major university to back a nationwide push to curb universities’ investments in fossil fuels, reports The New York Times.

The university said coal’s status as a source of carbon pollution linked to climate change persuaded trustees to drop stock in about 100 firms that derive a majority of their revenue from coal extraction. Trustees acted under internal guidelines that allow them to weigh whether “corporate policies or practices create substantial social injury” in making investment decisions, the school said.

Coal-linked holdings represent a small fraction of Stanford’s endowment, “but a small percentage is still a substantial amount of money,” said Lisa Lapin, the university’s associate vice president for communications. At least 11 small universities have opted to end fossil-fuel investments, but Stanford is by far the largest and most influential institution to do so.