Acceptance of fossil fuel funds undermines Stanford University’s sustainability

Stanford University has made progress in addressing climate issues. If we accept funding for fossil fuels, we will undo all the hard work done for trivial amounts of money.

Being named the “School of Sustainability” hasn’t stopped Stanford administrators at the Doerr School from receiving research funding from fossil fuel companies.

Data collected through the collaboration revealed that Stanford received funding from ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron. This summer, a university committee is expected to release a report examining the issue.

Their conclusion is clear: Stanford University should immediately end funding from fossil fuel companies. We need to divest from these companies altogether and put strict guardrails on where, when, and how we accept research funding from all industries. Failure to do so will only jeopardize the trust that Stanford University has built in communities affected by environmental injustice.

This is especially true in the red light district of Belhaven in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and the unincorporated communities of North Fair Oaks. Residents here have long supported the university’s survival by providing cheap service labor and substandard housing that fosters low wages for workers and graduate students. The close relationship between the university and the local community is accelerate climate inequalitybut recently, a concerted effort has changed that dynamic.

our A coalition of eight community-based organizations We work directly with low-income residents and people of color in the greater Stamford area. Together, we are beginning to take tangible steps to repair historical damage and build a more just future for the peninsula. Stanford University resources helped provide disaster preparedness education and emergency kits and air purifiers to hundreds of residents. 200 local families.The university is also promoting fair drinking water and housing justice. Students and researchers volunteer their expertise for chronically understaffed local nonprofit organizations.

These blossoming partnerships didn’t sprout overnight. Seeds of trust have been poured diligently by the caring staff of the Haas Center for Public Service, the Office of Community Engagement, and professors both inside and outside the Doerr School.

By partnering with Stanford University, we recognize its tremendous potential and are willing to stake our reputation on the university. Nevertheless, our first commitment is to the community.it brings responsibility to hold partners accountable. Accepting funding from those responsible for climate change that undermines population health shatters trust, undermines the hard work of university representatives, and jeopardizes the legitimacy of Stanford research for trivial amounts of money. It turns out.

Stanford University’s unjustified austerity mindset is the root of the problem. They have enlisted the help of committees, chairs, and rules of order to grapple with the moral difficulty of accepting the equivalent of a penny in the context of society. $36.5 billion in donations.Among many wise reason To supplement a pool of money comparable to Honduras’ GDP, nothing can justify amassing vast amounts of wealth in a region defined by shocking inequality. Stanford University may be more defensible for accepting funding from polluters if it invests it directly in addressing climate damage and reducing community inequality. . That’s not the case.