Matthew Lau: Let students divest from student union

I thought the purpose of universities was to research and explore new ideas; it turns out this is not the case if the research contradicts the climate hysteria peddled by the left.

It’s becoming a competition among morally pumped activists: whoever can most loudly condemn the use of fossil fuels is crowned the most righteous and is granted the privilege of sitting at the right hand (or, I suppose, the left hand) of Suzuki the god.

Score a victory for environmental group Toronto350 and the University of Toronto Students’ Union, whose unending climate zealotry finally bore fruit on Dec. 15 when an advisory committee struck by the school’s president recommended a targeted fossil fuel divestment. 

Admitting that fossil fuels are necessary for human welfare, the committee refrained from advising a blanket divestment but said that the university should divest from fossil fuel companies that “[engage] egregiously in socially injurious behaviour” by disregarding the 1.5-degree warming threshold cooked up by people who believe humans control the planet’s thermostat. The committee’s recommendation falls just short of what Toronto350 and the students’ union wanted, which was a complete divestment of the industry. 

On the committee’s list of sinful energy producers is ExxonMobil, for “its alleged funding of disinformation” – in other words, the company gave money to people who dispute Armageddonist climate theories...