Divest DU, a committee on campus dedicated to stopping the use of fossil fuels, welcomed over 60 attendees to their screening of the film “Do The Math” last Wednesday night in Davis Auditorium.
“Do The Math,” a documentary created by the 350.org movement, asks the audience to look at the simple math of the global warming situation. Highlighting fossil fuel companies that are exceeding the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted into the atmosphere, the movie says we will exceed these numbers, calling it a catastrophe for life on Earth.
The divest movement is trying to put a stop to the carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere in order to stay below the two degrees Celsius the Earth is able to warm to without dramatic consequences.
Bill McKibben, who was previously honored with the Anvil Axis of Freedom Award from the Media, Film & Journalism Studies (MFJS) department at DU last year in the spring, lectures as a journalist, author and environmental activist for the main part of the documentary.
He says that “the first rule of a hole is when you are in one you stop digging. If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from the people that are wrecking it.”
Honored with the Anvil Axis of Freedom Award from the DU Media, Film and Journalism Department last spring, McKibben’s call to action, outlined in the movie, is for organizations such as universities and churches to band together to stop and even take back any support that has been given through monetary investment in stocks with fossil fuel companies.
The film emphasized that the momentum is building behind this group worldwide and students on campuses are personally taking ownership of the Earth’s future by becoming a part of the fight against the large oil companies.
According to members of Divest DU, the team on campus is working on a petition to Chancellor Coombe in order to get the university’s support through the divestment of endowment money in stocks from these corporations. They said that by obtaining support through signatures from students, Divest DU will be able to show the university that divestment is not only important to their group, but also to a large array of differently invested students on the DU campus.
Richard Slocomb, a junior communications and psychology major, attended the event to support a friend.
“The subject manner was very interesting, but it felt like a plan that they were trying to put forward was telling everybody to stop doing something, which is usually not very effective,” said Slocomb. “It would be better to apply a plan of action.”
Another viewer, Michael Mandahl, junior music and biology major, said the movie’s message hit home with him.
“The movie was fantastic. Halfway through my seventh bowl of chips and queso the message started to resonate. It’s clear that we need to move away from fossil fuels. As of now, it seems to be the only feasible thing we can do as a university,” said Mandahl. “In order to combat the biggest industry on the planet, we must first downsize that industry through divestment. In a nutshell, I think divestment is a good first step. Baby steps to start, but humanity needs to learn how to walk on it’s own.”
The petition would ask for the university to stop any new investments and divest from current investments within the next five years.
Erin Smith, founder and president of Divest DU, said the divest petition has gained more than 500 signatures so far, with hopes that they will gain 2,000 signatures by May.
“The event went really well,” said Smith after the screening. “Overall the divestment movement is off to an amazing start on DU’s campus.”
