Sunrise Worcester is a local hub of the national Sunrise Movement which fights to combat climate change, enact a Green New Deal, and create millions of good-paying jobs in the process.We are also a big believer that young people have power and the ability to self-determine their own situations in order to ensure a liveable planet for them and future generations. That is why Sunrise Worcester is excited to endorse DivestWPI. Any meaningful change that happens in the US often begins on college campuses. From Earth Day, to Anti-war protests, and the Civil Rights movement, young people at universities are always at the forefront of these issues, volunteering their time, energy, and passion to help create a better world we know is possible.

At Sunrise Worcester we seek to mobilize Worcester youth in fighting for a livable future. Many of our members are local university students. Schools are supposed to be preparing students for the future, but their financial endowments do not reflect the value of a sustainable future for all.  Worcester is a city with numerous educational institutions and WPI has the opportunity to lead the charge of Worcester Universities divesting from dirty energy. By doing so, the university can demonstrate to incoming and ongoing students that they’ll be attending a university that puts their money where their mouth is. Rather than just saying they care about the climate, WPI has the opportunity to actually do so. So does WPI care about the climate? Or is it just fossil-fuel backed window-dressing? You show us. 

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350 Central Mass endorses the DivestWPI campaign to persuade their Board of Trustees to divest from fossil fuels. 350 Central Mass sees divestment from fossil fuels as both a moral act and as a prudent financial decision. Investments in fossil fuel exploration, extraction, transportation, power plants and related industries enable the continued destruction of our planet’s climate system. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has told us that to limit the damage to a 1.5 degrees centigrade increase in global temperature the world must cut the use of fossil fuels in half by 2030 and eliminate them completely by 2050. Thus, divestment from fossil fuels is a moral imperative. Given the volatility of gas, coal and oil markets and the trend toward new technologies as the world transitions to clean, renewable energy sources, divestment is also a wise financial decision protecting investors from diminishing returns and ending up with stranded assets. To date, because it is the right thing to do as well as the smart thing to do, more than 1,000 institutions have pledged to divest $11.5 trillion from fossil fuel corporations. We hope DivestWPI will be successful in convincing their university to join this movement.

Paul Popinchalk ’71 & Members of 350 Central Mass

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The Gender Equality Club recognizes that climate change is a global human rights issue. Disadvantaged groups already have poorer access to food, water, stable shelter, education, and healthcare, all of which become even more necessary as climate change causes drought, extreme weather events, and famine. We also recognize that climate change is a gendered issue: the UN reports that women and children are 14 times more likely to die from climate change, as women comprise the majority of the world’s poor, and are more dependent on agriculture and natural resources due to gender roles and limited education opportunities. As a social justice oriented group, we stand in solidarity with marginalized people everywhere, including those made disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of the fossil fuel industry because of their gender, race, income, geography, ability, and much more. We can not allow the fossil fuel industry to continue to value profit over all else with complete disregard for environmental and human rights impacts. The oil executives will not be climate refugees. It is our responsibility to divest, holding  these companies accountable for not only perpetuating imperialism and upholding discriminatory power structures, but further exacerbating their effect on marginalized peoples through climate change.

The United Leftist Student Association (ULSA) believes that a more peaceful, democratic, and healthy world is possible. When WPI supports fossil fuel companies like Exxon Mobil, it opposes all of these goals. The fossil fuel industry lobbies and pushes for imperialist wars of aggression like those in Iraq and Afghanistan. The fossil fuel industry uses its profits to buy our politicians and undermine democracy in the US and aboard. The fossil fuel industry lies to the public about the effects of climate change, and disproportionately contributes to the destruction of our planet's ecosystems. We stand with the working people of the world against the greed and violence of fossil fuel industry, and all other industries that produce profits for the few while causing suffering for the many. Because of this we are proud to firmly stand in solidarity in Divestment WPI!

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The use of fossil fuels is threatening the entirety of life on this planet due to its release of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Climate change is one of the most dire issues in the world and as a social justice organization, we have a duty to advocate for immediate action in addressing it. WPI wrote the following on their website about their “dedication” to social justice:

“At WPI, we work every day to increase our engagement with social justice through research, teaching, projects, and community engagement. From climate change research to closing the socio-economic divide between populations and communities, an increasing number of WPI's students, faculty, and staff are coming together through events such as the inaugural Summit on Social Justice and other initiatives in their passion to create a more just world through innovative, life-changing STEM solutions. Here, we take an action-oriented approach to social justice issues, striving toward equitable opportunities and equal economic, educational, political, and social rights for all.”

If this is true, WPI needs to take its own research into account and stop irresponsibly fueling climate change.

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College Democrats of WPI endorses the divestment movement because as a part of the larger Democratic Party, we “believe that climate change poses a real and urgent threat to our economy, our national security, and our children’s health and futures”.  In order to work towards a sustainable future, we must invest in clean energy and be conscious of our impact on the environment.  WPI should not be supporting companies such as Exxon Mobil if we strive to combat climate change and protect our environment.

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The principles of our WPI Omicron Iota chapter of Alpha Phi Omega work to serve not only our community, but also the nation and world as participating citizens. Our unique chapter is composed of young scientists and engineers who will soon be responsible for mitigating the impacts of climate change. Therefore, it is imperative that we act now to protect our future. As participating citizens, we believe that it is unethical to invest in an industry that is directly contributing to the demise of our own planet. We strive to be Servant Leaders and protectors of our home planet.

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The Green Team seeks to develop a culture of sustainable living in our community. We recognize the need to evaluate the different ways our actions ultimately impact the environment, and finances are no exception. At our core, it is unethical for us to financially contribute to the businesses who depend on polluting our environment, undermining science, and preventing an effective transition to a renewable economy.

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The Promotion of Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) supports Divest WPI because our club's main focus is the welfare of all animals across the globe. This includes wildlife animals that are threatened everyday by the extraction of fossil fuels among the Earth's richest areas for biodiversity such as the western Pacific Ocean. Divesting from fossil fuels will allow biodiversity to thrive, protecting animals and ecosystems across the globe.

Divest Ed is the national training and strategy hub for student fossil fuel divestment campaigns. Divest Ed's mission is to contribute to a long-lasting and sustainable student climate justice movement in which students use their power to challenge their colleges to be a force for moral good rather than contributing to climate destruction and economic oppression.

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MIT Divest is excited to endorse Divest WPI and support WPI students in fighting for divestment on their campus. As technology and science driven institutions, MIT and WPI have a responsibility to stop financially supporting the fossil fuel industry, which rejects scientific consensus on the urgency of climate action and actively lobby governments and sow doubts in the minds of the general public on the reality of climate change and its devastating impact on all of us.