That headline could apply to a great many things; the one I have in mind is fossil-fuel divestment. In yesterday’s WSJ, University of Chicago law professor Daniel Fischel had an excellent op-ed showing how silly this campaign is. It accomplishes nothing, he writes, except that colleges will “earn less money for research, services and student scholarships.”

Of course, this argument won’t do anything to persuade the students and other divestment zealots to give up their campaign. Like other leftist causes, this one makes them feel good and they don’t personally suffer any of the adverse consequences. It’s just like the minimum wage, universal health care, gun control and other manias.

The leaders of the divestment movement appear to believe that if colleges and universities sell off their holdings of companies that produce carbon-based fuels, that “sends a message!” If so, it’s a message only they hear. Few among the rest of us see anything immoral or even slightly undesirable in using oil, gas, and coal to create the energy we use.

I wonder if any of the divestment leaders take the logical step of demanding the the funds received from the sale of those abominable fossil-fuel stocks must then be invested in “green” and “sustainable” companies. Do they think that, oh, Solyndra, might have survived if colleges had scooped up its stock? Shouldn’t schools also “send a message” that investing in good companies is the right thing to do?