Divestment Debate in the NYT

“Divestment is little more than financial theater. ”

Our friend, and long time carbon dividends champion, Wesley Donhauser wrote a Letter to the Editor that appeared in today’s New York Times!

In it, Donhauser, who serves as President of the Harvard Republican Club, critiques the fossil fuel divestment movement as ineffective and a distraction from real solutions. Instead of demonizing American energy companies, he argues, we should establish economy-wide incentives that encourage all parties to the right thing:

To the Editor:

Devi Lockwood calls for Harvard to divest from fossil fuels, contending that it would position the university as a climate change leader.

While I share Ms. Lockwood’s concerns about climate change, divestment is little more than financial theater. Even at its best, it would have no meaningful effect on global emissions. What is worse, divestment misconstrues the climate problem and distracts from the market-based solutions that can actually make a difference.

Instead of demonizing fossil fuel companies, we need economy-wide incentives that encourage all parties to do the right thing. That is why proposals like the carbon dividends plan — which would establish a price on carbon and rebate the revenue to the American people — has won sweeping support from economists, businesses and environment NGOs alike.

The plan would harness the power of the market to drive emissions reductions at scale.

Substitute symbolic posturing for a real solution? That would move Harvard — and the world — forward.

Wesley L. Donhauser
Cambridge, Mass.
The writer, a Harvard junior, is president of the Harvard Republican Club.

This letter echoes an excellent op-ed Donhauser penned for The Harvard Crimson in January about the divestment protest at the Harvard-Yale football game. A highly recommended read.

If you share our belief in real, market-based climate solutions—not symbolic posturing—then we invite you to join our national movement. By unleashing the power of American innovation, we can unlock clean & abundant energy and promote continued economy growth.