College Students Campaign Against Fossil Fuels

by Virginia Quach, age 12

Student activists at more than 200 colleges are looking for new ways to slow down climate change. In an effort to do so, these students are asking their colleges to stop investing money in fossil fuel companies.

All current science tells us that fossil fuel pollutes and is harmful to the environment. Fossil fuels include coal, natural gas and crude oil. These fuels release toxins and other damaging gases into the atmosphere, which cause climate change.

The Fossil Free campaign argues that if it's wrong to pollute and participate in climate change, then it’s wrong to benefit from it. Their strategy is to encourage colleges to stop investing money into fossil fuel companies. They hope this will lead to less fossil fuels getting burned and an increased investment in companies that focus on renewable energy.

Students say it’s hard for their schools to turn down this line of reasoning. The main goal of these colleges is to prepare young people for their future. And as scientists continue to spread the word about the threats of climate change for the future, these colleges must take the concerns of their students into consideration.

This campaign has the possibility to change fossil fuel companies and how the public reacts to them. There is just one problem: since coal, oil and natural gas power the economy, there is not yet a low-carbon substitute for fossil fuel.

[Source: The Wisconsin State Journal ]