Why CalSTRS Should Divest from Fossil Fuels

Stephen Greenslade, an analyst with ARO Working Group, recently sent the following letter to Keith Yamanaka, who represents Tony Thurmond on the CalSTRS Investment Committee. September 13, 2019 Dear Mr. Yamanaka, This is Stephen Greenslade. I spoke with you on the phone recently along with Cynthia Kaufman and Vanessa Warheit of Fossil Free California, and…

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September Summits Showcase Divestment

Two major summits in September are bringing divestment, fiduciary duty, and related climate finance topics sharply into focus. The “Financing the Future” conference that just concluded in Cape Town, South Africa and the “Financing Our Low-Carbon Future” symposium slated for Thursday, September 26 in New York City highlight the importance of the policies and investment…

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Regents Dismiss UC Faculty Vote for Divestment

After a three-year campaign and a laborious process of approving and preparing a “memorial” statement and ballot for the Office of the President to send to faculty members, this June 77% of UC faculty voters voted YES to ask the Regents to divest UC’s endowment from fossil fuels.  Organizers and supporters were jubilant, but the…

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Fossil Free California and Four Influential Environmental Groups Warn CalPERS and CalSTRS of Accelerating Climate Risk

Largest U.S. Pension Funds Face New Climate Deadline Last year, with the help of many of you, Fossil Free California succeeded in getting California to pass the first-ever law requiring public pension funds to report on their climate-related financial risk. Senate Bill 964 (Allen, D-Santa Monica) specifically requires the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)…

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CalSTRS Discusses Materiality of ESG Risk Factors

CalSTRS Investment Subcommittee’s recent discussions of ESG risk factors concerned the materiality of ESG risk factors – whether, and at what threshold, environmental, social, and governance factors materially affect the economic and financial value of an investment.

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Watch Live Video of CalSTRS Investment Committee

The Investment Committee of CalSTRS meets all day Friday, April 8 in Sacramento, beginning around 9 am. The Committee will consider a number of important items and policies. This meeting coincides with the newly released risk report on the Fund’s exposure from investments in fossil fuels. [ExxonMobil is CalSTRS’ 6th largest investment]. Fossil Free California’s …

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Tobacco is a bad investment, CalPERS!

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System is considering a staff proposal this month that could lead to reinvestment in tobacco companies. It would also effectively foreclose divestment from companies that produce fossil fuels and other deadly products. If enacted, the proposal would “forbid CalPERS, in the management of its portfolios, from sacrificing potential investment performance or…

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Rebuttals to an Anti-Divestment Op-Ed: Consider the Source

Fossil Free California and other climate activists are refuting a recent op-ed by William Shughart and Robert Wardle of Strata Institute that opposes CalSTRS’ divestment from thermal coal. As RL Miller of Climate Hawks Vote points out, “People need to know that this isn’t random – Strata is funded by Koch.” Shughart and Wardle’s guest…

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