For a quarter of a century, Princeton University partnered with one of the world’s biggest oil and gas giants, BP. The alliance poured money into the University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI), one of its most prominent climate research programs. On the surface, the deal brought prestige and resources. In reality, critics argue that it delayed the urgent work of phasing out fossil fuels.
Now, the partnership is ending, as reported by The Daily Princetonian. When the current contract expires in 2025, BP will no longer fund CMI. Both sides insist it’s a mutual decision, but the move comes after years of growing criticism, student protests, and investigations that raised serious questions about how fossil fuel companies use academia to protect their business model.
A Deal That Shaped Climate Research
The report further explained: when Princeton struck its deal with BP back in 2000, it was framed as a groundbreaking collaboration. BP’s funding supported research into carbon capture, storage, alternative fuels, and other mitigation strategies.
CMI quickly became one of the University’s flagship institutes, producing influential studies like the Net Zero America report, which mapped possible pathways for the U.S. to achieve net zero by 2050.
Of the five modeled scenarios, four kept fossil fuels in play through mid-century, relying heavily on carbon capture to offset emissions. Critics later pointed out that this conclusion closely mirrored BP’s corporate strategy: continue pumping oil and gas while showcasing carbon capture as a lifeline.
At the time, renewable energy was less developed and more expensive than today. But as wind, solar, geothermal, and battery technologies advanced rapidly, the wisdom of pouring billions into carbon capture began to look like a stalling tactic.
Prestige for BP, Problems for Princeton
For BP, the partnership was a communications jackpot. Having Princeton’s name attached to its climate efforts gave the company a veneer of credibility, even as it expanded drilling and exploration. Internal communications later revealed how BP staff highlighted Princeton’s research to bolster its case for carbon capture and hydrogen in U.S. policy circles.
For Princeton, the financial support was significant, but the cost was reputational. As the climate crisis worsened, the University found itself increasingly criticized for giving BP legitimacy. By 2022, Princeton announced it would divest from fossil fuels, yet the BP relationship remained—an uncomfortable contradiction for a campus under growing activist pressure.
Net Zero: Whose Roadmap?
The partnership’s most contested legacy is the Net Zero America report. Funded by BP and Exxon, the study leaned heavily on carbon capture and fossil fuels. Just five months later, the International Energy Agency (IEA) issued its own net-zero roadmap, independent of fossil fuel influence.
The IEA’s message was blunt: no new investments in fossil fuel projects could be made if the world hoped to stay within 1.5°C of warming. The sharp contrast between Princeton’s BP-backed report and the IEA’s independent findings laid bare the risks of corporate-funded science.
Investigations Pull Back the Curtain
The true extent of BP’s influence came into sharper focus in 2024. A congressional investigation concluded that BP leveraged its Princeton ties to promote policies that aligned with its long-term strategy rather than committing to large-scale renewable investments.
The investigation found that BP not only shaped the narrative around carbon capture but also used the partnership to influence how energy and emissions policies were discussed in Washington. For student groups like Sunrise Princeton and Divest Princeton, this confirmed what they had warned for years: the partnership was less about science and more about extending the fossil fuel era.
Is Fossil Fuel Money Too Toxic for Academia?
Princeton is hardly alone. We discovered that a 2023 report by Data for Progress and Fossil Free Research revealed that fossil fuel companies funneled more than $675 million into 27 U.S. universities between 2010 and 2020. The University of California, Berkeley topped the list with $154 million, followed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ($108 million) and George Mason University ($64 million).
The debate over whether universities should accept fossil fuel funding is complex. Supporters argue that oil and gas companies bring valuable expertise, particularly in areas like carbon storage, green hydrogen, or sustainable aviation fuel. They say tapping into that knowledge can accelerate decarbonization.
Critics counter that these partnerships are inherently compromised. Any research tied to fossil fuel dollars risks being skewed toward preserving oil and gas interests. The history of tobacco industry funding of medical research is often cited as a warning: money from industries whose business models depend on harmful practices should not dictate academic inquiry.
What’s clear is that fossil fuel money buys more than just lab equipment—it buys influence, legitimacy, and access to future policymakers. That’s a trade-off many now say is too high a price to pay.
From Princeton to Harvard: BP’s Quiet Academic Powerplay
BP’s influence extended beyond Princeton. Documents show the company paid between $2.1 million and $2.6 million to CMI between 2012 and 2017. It also funded programs at Harvard and Tufts, contributing hundreds of thousands annually to policy-focused research. Harvard’s Kennedy School and Tufts’s Fletcher School, both heavily tied to government policymaking, received funds earmarked for climate policy labs.
The report noted that these partnerships gave BP access not just to research, but also to future policymakers—a revolving door that helped the company shape long-term political outcomes.
Princeton’s Climate Work Seeks New Lifelines
The end of BP’s sponsorship comes as Princeton faces broader challenges in securing climate research funding. In mid-2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce cut $4 million earmarked for University climate programs, claiming they no longer aligned with federal priorities.
Professor Stephen Pacala, CMI’s director, acknowledged that the termination of BP’s support will reduce funding for some projects and end the annual BP-Princeton conference, but he emphasized that the work will continue with other backers. Professor Jonathan Levine, a lead investigator, echoed that sentiment, noting that the research pillars will remain intact but under new funding models.
Student Demands for Real Leadership
With BP now stepping back, Princeton students and climate activists see an opening for change. Divest Princeton has called on the University to:
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Cut all ties with fossil fuel companies.
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Offer pension plans free of fossil fuel exposure.
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Introduce an undergraduate climate crisis course requirement.
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Make campus operations a model of sustainability, from dining halls to reunions.
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Acknowledge and address harms inflicted on frontline communities impacted by fossil fuels.
To them, Princeton has lagged on sustainability, and its long partnership with BP represents decades of lost opportunity. Instead of backing bold renewable solutions already proven at scale—solar, wind, geothermal, and battery storage—Princeton, they argue, gave BP the cover it needed to keep selling fossil fuels.
A Chance for Princeton to Reset
The end of Princeton’s BP partnership represents more than just the expiration of a contract. It’s a moment of reckoning for the University, and a chance to redefine its role in the global energy transition.
Princeton could choose to double down on independent, transparent climate research that focuses on accelerating renewable deployment, scaling storage, and building resilient, low-carbon systems. It could use its prestige not to give cover to fossil fuel interests, but to lead the charge toward a sustainable future.
Whether Princeton seizes this opportunity or clings to the legacy of a 25-year deal that many see as a costly mistake. Nonetheless, it will send a powerful signal about the role of higher education in solving the climate crisis.
