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DENVER (AP) — Wind and solar power advocates failed to persuade the University of Colorado's governing Board of Regents Thursday to divest from coal, oil and gas.
On a 7-2 vote, the regents upheld their current policy that allows the university financial team to invest in fossil fuel if it chooses.
The regents also rejected, 6-3, a proposal to form a sustainable investment committee to advise the financial team.
It was the latest skirmish in a nationwide campaign to push schools, churches and other institutions to divest from greenhouse gas-producing energy in hopes of hastening the growth of renewable fuels. The Fossil Free campaign says at least 19 U.S. schools have agreed to some degree of divestment.
"I'm incredibly disappointed," said Coby Wikselaar, a student at CU Denver and a member of Fossil Free CU, one of the groups advocating for divestment. She said the group will keep trying to persuade the regents to divest.
"We have no intention of going away," she said.
Divestment opponent Bob Moody praised the vote, citing the importance of the industry to the state's economy.
"Simply saying we're just going to ban that or somehow stop that activity would be hugely detrimental to our economy," said Moody, director of the Denver Energy Network, which he said advocates for public awareness of the oil and gas industry.
Colorado is the nation's No. 7 energy state, and the industry produces billions of dollars in revenue and employs thousands.
The university has an investment pool of about $2.7 billion. The regents control about $1.7 billion of that, and about $1 billion is in the endowment, managed by the CU Foundation's board.
School officials say 3 or 4 percent of the total pool is invested in energy, but that includes renewables and industry support companies as well as fossil fuel suppliers.
Divestment supporters said the school shouldn't invest in fossil fuels because of their role in climate change and because economic trends favor renewable energy.
"If one were invested in the past several years in coal, you'd be losing your shirt, your socks, your shorts," divestment proponent John Powers said after the meeting.
Opponents praised the benefits of fossil fuels to technology, health care and quality of life.
Kim Monson told the regents her grandmother lived in a sod house and burned buffalo dung for fuel. Cheap and reliable energy is what makes modern life better than her grandmother's, Monson said.
She also argued it was wrong to limit the school's financial alternatives.
"Taking away choice by force is something that should raise our radar screens any time," she said.
Getting the university to shun fossil fuel investments was a long shot. Unlike most major universities' boards, the CU regents are elected, and Republicans hold a 5-4 majority, generally reflecting the current political split in the state.
Regent Sue Sharkey, a Republican from Castle Rock who represents the eastern third of the state, questioned whether climate change was a threat.
"I'm not in a position to say that we have a problem with our climate," she said.
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