New Yorkers remind State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to divest the 6 billion in pension funds from fossil fuels

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New York, NY - Members of the campaign to Divest New York State’s pension funds from fossil fuel holdings held a picket outside Arnhold Hall at The New School in Manhattan, on March 26, 2018; where New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli discussed the future of the 6 billion dollars in pension funds. 

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Fossil Fuels are a bad investment for NY State Pension Funds. Compared to the general stock index, the value of fossil fuel stocks has steadily fallen over the last five years and is predicted to continue falling. Why put our pension funds at risk? 

Fossil fuel companies are causing climate change!

The production and use of fossil fuels is destroying our planet. Our only hope for survival is to leave reserves in the ground, stop burning fossil fuels and stop building fossil fuel infrastructure. We must transition to renewables now.

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But the state pension fund, which DiNapoli controls, has $6 billion invested in fossil fuels.

* It is fiscally unwise to remain invested in an industry that the rest of the world is committed to transition away from. Coal has already suffered enormous losses. Over the last five years, the energy sector has been the worst performing sector in the market. More losses are coming. We must divest from fossil fuels to protect the future incomes of retirees and taxpayers.

* It is immoral for New York State to support fossil fuel companies with our pension fund dollars, and to seek to make money from an activity that is destabilizing the climate.

* It is bad public policy for the State of New York to be invested in the very industry that its Governor has pledged to divest from; an industry that is subject to potential litigation by the Attorney General, and that New York City is already suing.

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DiNapoli says he wants to stay invested so he can use his power as a shareholder to influence fossil fuel companies. This is delusional! The nation of Norway and the NYC pension boards have given up shareholder activism as futile. The mission of fossil fuel companies is to bring fossil fuels to market, and no amount of shareholder pressure can change that because the industry will never give up its core business model, which is to squeeze every last dollar from fossil fuel extraction—a model that also allows them to pollute with impunity. Shareholder activists will be sidelined and ignored.

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Divestment succeeded in ending apartheid in South Africa. It can also end the suicidal use of fossil fuels. $6 TRILLION worth of endowments worldwide have already been divested. The Governor, NYC Mayor, and Comptroller support divestment. It’s time for the State Comptroller to join them and make New York State a leader in fossil fuel divestment and climate change mitigation.

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Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller since 2007, and graduate of Milano School for International Affairs, Management and Public and Urban Policy (’88) on his efforts as trustee of America’s third largest state pension fund to shape corporate policies and practices on environmental, social and governance issues and achieve strong returns for the Fund. In his tenure as State Comptroller, the New York State Pension Fund has been one of the most active in the U.S. in promoting sustainable business practices among its portfolio companies on a wide range of issues, including climate change, board diversity, LGBT rights and political spending.

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