The Rockefeller family, whose legendary fortune was built by John D. Rockefeller through Standard Oil, announced that its $860 million philanthropic foundation is joining the divestment movement and abandoning fossil fuels. The announcement comes just ahead of the United Nations climate-change summit that starts Tuesday in New York City, and is part of a broadening divestment initiative in which people commit to selling shares of energy stocks. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has already eliminated investments involving coal and tar sands, while increasing its investment in alternative energy sources, the fund’s president said. Unwinding other investments in a complex portfolio involving a broader range of fossil fuels will take longer, he noted.
