"Harvard Beats Back Divestment Lawsuit, but Students Promise to Appeal"

"Seven filed suit to force prestigious college to divorce its fortune and its future from fossil fuels."

"Harvard's fossil fuel divestment movement recently hit a snag.

Last week, a Massachusetts court dismissed a novel lawsuit brought by seven Harvard students seeking to make the university in Cambridge, Mass., divest its $36.4 billion endowment of holdings in major coal, oil and natural gas companies.

The students made two claims in the lawsuit. The first claim, filed on behalf of themselves, argued that divestment is justified under their interpretation of the school's charter. The second claim, filed on behalf of future generations—people whose "future health, safety and welfare depends on current efforts to slow the pace" of man-made climate change—argued that the school was intentionally investing in a known dangerous activity and should be stopped."

Zahra Hirji reports for InsideClimate News March 24, 2015.