Boise Weekly writer Nathaniel Hoffman has a good piece this week on how Idaho state government chose not to do its part to stop the genocide in Darfur. A snip:
Imagine you are the governor of a state, elected by the people, or a legislator elected by some of those people, and you get the same information: Idaho has at least $41.4 million invested in a genocidal regime.
What do you do with that information?
If you are New Jersey, you drop $2.16 billion in such investments. Five other states have agreed to approach the offending companies with threats of divestment, and more than 20 state legislatures are considering action right now. Venture capitalists in the Sudan now face a sea of bad PR, downward market trends and actual economic pressure.
But in Idaho, the answer is less dramatic.
You pass the buck. To the fund administrator. To the investment technician with the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Read it all here. And kudos to Sens. Diane Bilyeu, Mike Burkett, Joe Stegner, and Elliot Werk, who at least tried to introduce Idaho to the concept of socially responsible investing.
UPDATE February 23: An action is set for 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the PERSI building, 8th and Washington streets in Boise, to protest Idaho's continued investments in Darfur. The PERSI (Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho) board meets at 8 a.m. that day. Protest organizers will hold a press conference later in the day.
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