END GW’S COMPLICITY IN THE CLIMATE CRISIS

To President LeBlanc, the Board of Trustees, and the university administration, 

The George Washington University is complicit in the climate crisis. The university’s Regulatory Studies Center and its fossil fuel investments threaten the habitability of our planet as well as the lives, homes, and general well-being of millions of people. We, the undersigned students, staff, faculty, student and non-student organizations, demand that the university: 

1) Close or cut ties with the Regulatory Studies Center or publicly disclose its funding, motivations, and anti-regulation agenda; and 

2) Immediately divest the university endowment from the fossil fuel industry. 

GW Regulatory Studies Center

The GW Regulatory Studies Center (RSC), an academic center of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, claims to be an unbiased research institute focused on improving regulatory policy.  However, according to a Public Citizen report published in June of 2019, the RSC has shown itself to be a front for corporate interests, devoid of academic integrity. The RSC has extensive ties to the fossil fuel industry. In particular, the RSC has received over one million dollars from both ExxonMobil and the Koch network— a fossil fuel empire that profits from the deregulation of the fossil fuel industry. Notably, the Kochs and ExxonMobil are prominent architects of the decades long misinformation campaign fueling climate denial. Furthermore, the majority of RSC employees have professional histories with Koch-funded groups prior to their employment at the RSC.

Because of its ties to fossil fuel interests, the RSC has published consistently biased research. The Public Citizen report found that 96% of relevant RSC public comments to regulatory agencies “recommended less regulation than the proposal or status quo.” This practice, as well as other one-sided advocacy initiatives detailed by the report, blatantly demonstrate the RSC’s anti-regulation agenda and the influence that fossil fuel interests hold over them. The RSC agenda has also provided an anti-regulation blueprint for the Trump administration. The Trump EPA has frequently cited the RSC in justifying the rolling back of regulations designed to protect the environment and combat the climate crisis. The university warmly embraces the RSC, and allows it, under the George Washington University name, to provide biased research that threatens the future of humanity.

GW’s Fossil Fuel Investments 

We are at a pivotal moment in our planet’s history, where another decade of insufficient action on the climate crisis will lead to devastating and irreversible consequences. As the largest fossil fuel corporations are responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988, any institution that continues to invest in the fossil fuel industry funds the climate crisis. Divestment from fossil fuels is crucial in shifting the economy away from fossil fuel dependence and ultimately halting greenhouse gas emissions. In order to prevent global warming beyond 1.5°C-- the goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement--global emissions must reach net-zero by 2050 (IPCC). The George Washington University, which has endorsed the Paris Climate Agreement, has upwards of 25 million dollars from its endowment invested in the fossil fuel industry. This investment contradicts the university’s stated support of the Paris Climate Agreement and pits millions of dollars directly against the futures of its students.

We are in the midst of a student-led, nationwide effort to push universities to withdraw from their fossil fuel investments. Over one hundred educational institutions have divested from fossil fuels, and the majority of universities committed to fossil fuel divestment are able to make the transition in less than a year, with some removing their investments in as little time as a week (Nonprofit Quarterly). We, the undersigned students, staff, faculty, student and non-student organizations, refuse to accept weak excuses from the administration to justify investments that play a direct role in the destruction of the planet. 

GW Must Act Now

By harboring the Regulatory Studies Center and funneling millions of dollars into the fossil fuel industry, the George Washington University subverts its commitments to academic integrity and the wellbeing of its students. To salvage any semblance of academic integrity or credibility, the university must acknowledge the accepted climate science by either closing or cutting ties with the Regulatory Studies Center, or publicly disclosing the center’s funding, motivations, and anti-regulation agenda. To restore its commitment to its students, GW must fully divest its endowment from fossil fuels. The severity of the climate crisis and the threat it poses commands immediate action.

With urgency,