Story of the Week: June 2020

“[Harvard Forward] launched and coordinated an aggressive campaign to secure seats on the Board of Overseers, leveraging its influence in also electing new members to the Corporation, the government body in charge of fiduciary responsibilities. [Harvard Forward] wishes to wield Overseers’ influence over an area beyond their responsibility, by voting in favor or against those that agree or disagree with their views. In essence, they want to judge investment decisions by political, rather than financial metrics, a strategy which is likely to threaten the school’s investment returns.”

“Oil companies are perfectly aware that the world is changing and are trying to adjust as well. Some of them, like Shell, are attempting to diversify their energy production portfolio to include more renewable fuels, while others remain focused on improving productivity and preparing for a future that likely includes some sort of carbon tax.”

“The vast number of supporters presumably donate to colleges to support the education of current and future students. Investment strategy and political causes are presumably not major concerns. Using these funds to pursue social causes that donors may not approve of and that lessen the impact of their gifts could reduce future donations.”

“Stigmatization has never been a guarantee for destroying controversial industries that still have a broad market demand for their goods and services. Tobacco, perhaps one of the most scrutinized industries of all, has maintained fairly constant production levels and increased revenues despite similar campaigns and governmental taxes.”

“Demand, not supply, is the cause of increased carbon emissions, along with the United Nations’ glaring exemption from emissions controls on China, India and other developing countries. As a result, these countries have become monstrous pollution machines, burning mostly coal to build their economies and produce their junk exports.”