Why do fossil fuel companies behave so badly?
In Canada, Fort McMurray nearly burnt to the ground as the tar sands caught on fire.
In America, the Dakota Access Pipeline was pushed through across the homes of native peoples, who came out in their tens of thousands to protest to the destruction of their lands, communities and basic civic rights.
In the UK, Green MP Caroline Lucas was arrested protesting against fracking in Balcombe, while across the country oil companies trample over the objections of local communities in their endless search for more dangerous sources of fossil fuels. Caroline was cleared of all charges; but fracking continues.
Why does this happen?
Simply: money.
The vast majority of fossil fuel companies’ wealth isn’t in the barrels they ship across the sea. It’s in the reserves they haven’t yet tapped. If they don’t tap them, they lose money. If they do, the Earth’s rising temperature will tip over the point of no return.
Money is what drives companies to risk the welfare of the world, and money is what we can take away from them.
Across the world, banks, governments, universities, corporations and councils have invested their money – including pension funds – in stocks and shares. Many of these shares belong to fossil fuel companies. When enough of us sell our shares, the value of that company goes down, and a clear message is sent to the company and to the world: enough.
In Islington, Cllr Caroline Russell AM, Green candidate for Islington North, joined forces with Jen Cronin and activists from Fossil Free to call on Islington Council to divest its funds from fossil fuels, separating our money from oil. Speaking at their rally at Islington Town Hall on May 13th, Caroline said:
“It makes no economic sense to have investment in fossil fuels. The council could be investing in renewable energy, and should be doing what I’m pushing to do on the London assembly – an energy company for Londoners…. where they can encourage the use of renewable energy, reduce the use of fossil fuels; and by doing that they can also create money from the energy that they’re selling, which can be used to address fuel poverty.”
“It makes no sense to be investing in fossil fuels, which are on their way out, and should never come out of the ground.”
– Catherine Webb
