ABSTRACT
In spring 2010, on the campus of Swarthmore College, the student group Swarthmore Mountain Justice formed one of the first fossil fuel divestment campaigns. By 2013, the fossil fuel divestment movement had become the fastest growing divestment movement in history. This chapter offers a sympathetic yet critical appraisal of the fossil fuel divestment movement, which demonstrates its power and potential, while also highlighting its limitations. The carbon bubble often served a dual role. As an underlying moral reason for why investment in the fossil fuel industry's business model is immoral, as its successful fulfilment would entail climate chaos. Second, the carbon bubble served as a financial reason for not investing, for if the global community is successful in acting on climate, the fossil fuel business model would fail. As a social science study by Schifeling and Hoffman found, within the United States the divestment movement was successful in shifting public discourse towards discussing solutions to climate change.
