Rockefeller Oil Heirs Ditching Fossil Fuels For Clean Energy
A Headline So Ironic It Appears To Have Been Ripped From an Alanis Morissette Lyric Sheet
Rockefeller Center’s famed Atlas, who is visibly surprised to learn of Rockefeller oil heirs divesting from fossil fuels
John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company was at one time the largest oil refiner in the world – so big, in fact, that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that the multinational corporation was an illegal monopoly. Standard Oil was consequently broken up into smaller independent companies, some of which – including Chevron and ExxonMobil – still exist today.
That’s what makes it so ironic that the $860 million philanthropic organization which bears the Standard Oil founder’s name, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, has announced that it will be divesting from all oil and fossil fuel companies and instead investing in greener alternatives.
John D. Rockefeller (b. 1839, d. 1937) in 1885, just chillin’
It’s all part of a growing initiative which began several years ago on college campuses, called Global Divest-Invest. So far, around 180 institutions (from universities to local governments to pension funds) have pledged to divest more than $50 billion from fossil fuel companies, while over 650 wealthy individuals have pledged to divest around $1 billion.
According to Rockefeller Brothers Fund director Stephen Heintz, the famed industrialist wouldn’t be turning over in his grave if he heard the news. “We are quite convinced that if [John D. Rockefeller] were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy,” said Heintz in a statement.
Rockefeller’s great-great-granddaughter, Valerie Rockefeller Wayne (a woman so rich she can afford two last names, one of which belongs to Batman’s wealthy parents), added that, “There is a moral imperative to preserve a healthy planet.”
An oil refinery in Washington state
No word yet on whether the Rockefeller family will be investing in any specific electric automotive projects. Their announcement regarding the Global Divest-Invest initiative was made today to draw more attention to the U.N. climate change summit, which opens tomorrow on Tuesday, September 23, 2014.
News Source: New York Times
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