The University of California system has sold off endowment and pension fund holdings in coal and oil sands companies, a $200-million move that officials said was in response to environmental concerns and rising financial risk.
The action, short of a formal divestment, represents a small portion of UC's overall energy holdings. Still, it has fueled a national debate over whether universities and governments should shed such investments because of the effects of fossil fuels on global warming.
Student activists on Thursday claimed a partial victory in their campaign to pressure UC and other universities to divest — an effort that had successes last year when Stanford University, among others, said it would drop coal industry holdings.