(Update: On 11 Oct 2021 the Reed College Board of Trustees announced its decision to divest the college’s endowment from fossil fuels. Read about it here.)
The first day of classes brought a new poster on the building’s front door: “Reckoning with Evil, an interview with Prof. Newlands, Notre Dame.”
This simple poster caused me to reflect. Evil has so many disguises.
Consider the burning of fossil fuels. A little bit of burning is actually good – it has kept me (and my ancestors) warm in winter, cooked our food, and preserved our health. But now the burning has clearly gotten out of hand. The unbridled use of fossil fuels has a clear potential for global evil, so why is it so hard for Reed College to divest itself from fossil fuel industries? Why can’t the trustees muster up the courage to place any limits on its appetite for fossil fuel investments? Why can’t they see any wisdom or potential for good in divesting from the dirtiest sector of this industry: coal?
If you want to see how evil can cloak itself in good (“fossil fuel investments protect academic freedom”), and camouflage its true character by sowing confusion (“this is a political matter, there is no clear moral course”) and uncertainty (“how do we know divestment will be beneficial?”), just read the July 17, 2014 Statement on Divestment from the Reed College trustees.
We will all be guilty until we get free.
