We want to voice our appreciation and celebrate all those who participated in the Our Common Home conference over the last few days. Cardinal Turkson, a main architect behind the Pope’s encyclical, was joined by Senator Ed Markey and other prominent speakers. We acknowledge the conference as a huge step forward for Boston College. We, as Climate Justice at Boston College, are especially grateful to the faculty and staff who worked tirelessly to showcase the urgent call for action that is the Pope’s encyclical. The conference gave us an opportunity to focus on Pope Francis’ purposeful words, how humans and nature are one in the same, and when we hurt one, we hurt the other.
Now is the time to turn talk into action! We urge all of you to take another step towards addressing climate change and join CJBC on Friday at 12:45 p.m. at our very first permitted event as a registered student organization. We will meet outside Conte next to the million dollar stairs. We will be holding a vigil to stand in solidarity with those who do not have the resources we do, who did not cause the climate crisis, and who are already suffering the disastrous effects of climate change. We hope that you will join us and add your voice to the growing movement for climate justice, against the fossil fuel companies whose very business is at odds with human civilization, especially the poorest among us.
At BC, we have the power to change this world for the better. We have the responsibility to rise up and announce that we do not endorse the injustices of the fossil fuel industry, from the Ogoni in Nigeria to Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest to Massachusetts and Boston residents fighting gas pipelines. We can do better. We must do better. The endowment can invest in efficiency on campus and clean renewable energy, turning BC into the world we need. And that starts by making a strong statement: BC will no longer profit from companies that are hurting creation, Our Common Home.
At Cardinal Turkson’s talk, following a question about what BC can do, the Cardinal said that he “did not want to offend his hosts.” Implicitly, the Cardinal is suggesting BC can do much more than it is. Unfortunately, Fr. Leahy and the Board of Trustees continue to invest in a reckless industry. These investments are costly: fossil fuel stocks, especially coal, have plummeted since we began asking BC to take leadership on climate justice almost three years ago. So far, our president and the financial elites that comprise our Board have stood against young people, communities, and the least among us. They are, in short, on the wrong side of history. The only question is how long until BC changes course, until BC leadership listens to students, faculty, alumni, and those who do not have billions to invest. Join us, before BC really does set the world aflame!
Featured Image by Drew Hoo / Heights Editor
Climate Justice @ Boston College
