June 21, 2022
Stanford’s New School of Sustainability Is a Gift to Fossil Fuel Companies
By Lisa Herforth-Hebbert
The university seems set to replicate the mistakes of past climate research: soliciting oil and gas funding while paying lip service to environmental justice.
By Celina Scott-Buechler and Ada Statler
This summer, Stanford University will officially launch its new Doerr School of Sustainability with the help of a record-breaking $1.1 billion gift from John and Ann Doerr. According to the Doerrs, who amassed their wealth in venture capital, the new school reflects a “bold” commitment to tackle humanity’s greatest challenge. And yet, Stanford seems set to replicate the mistakes of past climate research: inviting conflicts of interest by soliciting fossil fuel funding, paying lip service to environmental justice, and forcing a dated and narrow-minded vision of “objective” climate work.
The launch of the Doerr School of Sustainability is, ironically, the culmination of student calls for Stanford to prioritize work on the climate crisis, and follows in the footsteps of the Columbia Climate School launched last year. Stanford’s announcement drew particular attention; the Doerrs’ gift was the largest single donation dedicated to climate and sustainability in higher education, and the second largest donation ever made to an American university. Despite the Doerrs’ sizable investment toward “solving the most complex problems in climate and sustainability,” the school’s incoming dean, Arun Majumdar, told the New York Times that the Doerr School of Sustainability would accept funding from and partner with fossil fuel companies. Majumdar’s day-one declaration summarily rejects demands by youth activists, students, climate advocates, and a growing body of academics who have fought to limit industry obstruction of climate solutions.
