Press Release posted on behalf of Fossil Free CU Denver student organizers:  Fossil Free CU Hosts Divestment Panel to Educate and Demand Action  IMG_20140921_125835521

DENVER, CO – As they head towards the end of the fall semester, Fossil Free CU in Denver hosted an educational panel in order to educate the community and explain why divestment is critical to slowing the effects of climate change. The speakers were Travis Madsen, CU alumnus and Global Warming Program Manager at Environment America, Maria Talero, Climate Courage educator and community organizer and 350 Colorado board member,Steve Koester, Anthropology professor at CU Denver, and Anne Walker, Economics professor at CU Denver. In addition to students, members of the Board of Regents were also invited to join the open dialogue about divestment although none were able to attend.

The education panel also coincided with the Board of Regents meeting happening on Wednesday, November 19 in Colorado Springs where students are planning to converge and continue to ask for divestment as a means of combating climate change.

“The fossil fuel industry’s business plan is not compatible with a healthy future for humanity,” said Travis Madsen, CU alumnus and Environment America Senior Program Manager for Global Warming Solutions. “We have all the technological solutions ready now, we just need the fossil fuel industry to get out of the way.”

In one semester, Fossil Free CU has made definite headway in Denver. There have been over 1,000 petitions signed from students on the Auraria campus, 37 coalition faculty sign ons, over a dozen letters written to President Benson, and, in one day, over 135 calls generated to President Benson’s office. Petitions will be on display along with those from the three other campuses today at the Regent’s meeting.

“The core mission of the university is to prepare students for the future” said Maria Talero, Climate Courage educator and organizer and 350 Colorado board member.  “So, students are justified in holding university administrators morally accountable for investing in companies that are threatening their future. “

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