ST. LOUIS — Washington University has begun work on a new center for the environment, has detailed how prevalent environmental racism is in St. Louis and puts an emphasis on its climate change research.
But a legal complaint filed by numerous faculty members, student groups and international organizations claims WashU's investment choices are at odds with these environmental initiatives.
The university invests an estimated $625 million of its $12.3 billion endowment in stocks associated with the fossil fuel industry, a legal complaint filed by numerous faculty members, student groups and international organizations claims. Fossil fuels have repeatedly been shown to be the biggest driver of human-caused global climate change, with the United Nations estimating they account for 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions.
WashU officials have never specifically stated how much money the university invests in fossil fuels, despite repeated questions from student groups on campus, including Green Action WashU, which authored the complaint. The group was able to create a rough estimate of the investment based on the university's 2021-22 Annual Report and estimates of private and global equity in energy.
University officials did not return 5 On Your Side's request for comment on the complaint and have not confirmed the amount of money they have invested in fossil fuels at the time of this article's publication.
"We don't have an exact number at the moment, and that's part of the issue," said Aidan Lewis, a Green Action WashU executive team member. "They're saying that divesting is a political statement, but instead they've made the decision to not disclose how much is invested, which in itself is a statement ... there's a lot of students that don't even know that the university invests in fossil fuels."
The complaint's signatories say these investments are not only hypocritical to the university's mission of not profiting from gross pollution or environmental destruction but also violate Missouri law. The university's environmental racism research found industries, power plants and vehicles worsen the health of St. Louis communities, minority communities in particular.
"Continued investment in fossil fuel corporations by [the Washington University Investment Management Company] violates the fiduciary duties spelled out in the Missouri Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (MUPMIFA)," the legal complaint said. "By financially supporting the degradation of the climate, widespread damage to ecological and human health, and serious obstacles to environmental and social equity, the Board has failed to consider the charitable purposes of the institution and the purposes of the institutional fund."
The complaint, sent to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Monday, is a coordinated legal effort with other student organizations. Groups at Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Tufts University, Columbia University and other universities have pushed to get the institutions to divest in fossil fuels after years of stalled conversations.
"Over the past few years we've seen less and less of a response from the university whenever we tried to have some sort of action or get their attention, even directly contacting them," said Clara Dutton, another member of Green Action WashU's executive team. "We figured the best method, if we can't talk directly to them, would be getting their attention some other way. We've seen so many universities ... doing this, so we thought this would be the next logical step in really raising the stakes and gaining their attention."
Harvard, Princeton and Columbia have already divested or started to divest in fossil fuels. More than 100 other universities, most recently New York University and Seattle University, have also divested from fossil fuels.
The legal action lays out a timeline of events dating back to 2012 when students began asking, protesting and disrupting Washington University leadership about fossil fuel divestment. Chancellor Andrew Martin has since said the university "maintains a strong presumption against using its financial resources to express any particular social or policy agenda through exclusionary practices.”
The complaint was sent to Bailey's office. Bailey's conservative voting record, along with his hard stance against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments, makes the prospect of him taking up the requested investigation unlikely, according to 5 On Your Side Political Analyst Anita Manion.
"The attorney general and secretary of state are going to pursue issues that they think are important to them and are aligned with their values and are in their political interest," Manion said. "Both the attorney general and the secretary of state, over the last year, have taken up a lot of issues that seem to align with their political values and what their voters would like. I don't think this is one of those issues."
He will decide whether to answer the complaint's request to investigate the university's alleged violations. Green Action hopes negotiations on divestment can restart with university leadership before further legal action is taken.
"We're hoping to get a seat at the table and an actual dialogue to be started," Lewis said. "We want to put pressure on the university ... We're hoping down the line we can partner with them and come from a place of mutual understanding where we can try and achieve the same goal."
Top St. Louis headlines
Get the latest news and details throughout the St. Louis area from 5 On Your Side broadcasts here.
