Should Utah also divest for Darfur?
Treasurer David Lemoine's reasoning, supported by the Save Darfur Coalition and other activists, was that the Sudanese government is using oil revenue to fund attacks on civilians in Darfur.
If enough Americans refuse to invest in these companies, the argument goes, maybe the Sudanese government will do something to end the genocide there. Although divesting the state of Maine's small holdings in Schlumberger won't make any difference by itself, "You hope enough droplets of water can combine to create a torrent," says Lemoine.
Utah's State Retirement System also owns stock in Schlumberger. Utah, though, is not divesting its stocks.
Should Utahns be outraged at the state's lack of response to the national "Divest for Darfur" campaign? Would divestment be anything more than a political gesture? Once you start divesting to cure social ills, where do you stop? These are the questions facing government, university and corporate officials this spring as "Divest for Darfur" heats up its campaign nationwide.
Seven states so far have passed legislation mandating divestment of state funds in foreign companies that may be inadvertently supporting the regime in Khartoum, and 17 more states are considering similar legislation. Forty-two colleges and universities have divested.
The Sudan Divestment Task Force's campaign of "targeted divestment" has a list of companies it considers "highest offenders," companies that "have proven to be largely unengageable by shareholders or unwilling to consider altering problematic practices in Sudan." One of those companies is Schlumberger. The Utah State Retirement System owns some stock in Schlumberger, although it won't divulge how much.
Last fall, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. received a letter from U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., urging him to help enact legislation requiring divestment of state-owned stocks.
Huntsman closely follows the crisis in Darfur and for months wore a Save Darfur wrist band — but state divestment "hasn't been seriously considered," says Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower, because, as far as anybody knows, only one business with ties to Utah is suspect. (Actually, the governor's office was not aware of the Schlumberger connection until alerted by a reporter.)
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