Updates

MAY 25: California fossil fuel divestment bill heads to full Senate floor vote

By Fossil Free California | May 24, 2023

MEDIA ADVISORYFOR PLANNING PURPOSESMay 24, 2023 Contact: Shana DeClercq | shana@fossilfreeca.org | (415) 376-3746 After passing Senate Appropriations, SB252 is the “climate bill that could.” Tremendous momentum for California, the world’s sixth largest economy, to lead on climate, economic, and fiduciary responsibility. WHAT: SB 252 (CalPERS & CalSTRS fossil fuel divestment bill) full Senate floor vote WHEN…

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What is Climate Accountability Bill Package?

By Fossil Free California | May 15, 2023

The Climate Accountability package comprises 3 transformational bills that will ensure we are meeting the climate crisis with strong data, financial transparency, risk mitigation, and in the case of our public pensions, divestment of $14 billion of fossil fuel funds. Learn more with these informative graphics from California Environmental Voters. Your Voice Matters! State Assembly…

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Photo that shows a closeup of a person's hands stacking coins in increasingly larger stacks, with seedlings on top of each stack.

Financial outcomes from divesting from fossil fuels

By UC Berkeley Economics Professor Clair Brown, Sandy Emerson, Sara Theiss and Glenn Fieldman | May 8, 2023

Screening out fossil fuel stocks has not had a significant impact on returns for global, well-diversified portfolios — in fact over the past 12 years, an index without fossil fuels outperformed its most similar index with fossil fuels, and two separate studies by found that divestment actions taken by funds worldwide have passed the prudence tests required of fiduciaries. An additional academic study spanning decades that included previous oil price spikes found no significant difference in performance between portfolios with and without fossil fuels.

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Logos of many (but not all) of the organizations in the California Fossil Fuel Divestment Coalition.

Meet the California Fossil Fuel Divestment Coalition!

By Fossil Free California | May 2, 2023

Now with over 140 labor unions and organizations in support, the California Fossil Fuel Divestment Coalition is building support in every corner of the state for SB 252, which will divest California’s public pensions from fossil fuels.

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Official photograph of Fiona Ma. She is facing the camera, smiling, with arms folded, while wearing a light blue blazer. Behind her is a State of California building with decorative white pillars.

State Treasurer Fiona Ma Issues Statement to Support Divestment Legislation following CalPERS Board Meeting

By Shana DeClercq | March 16, 2023

Divestment sends a message to companies that have shown little interest in seriously addressing a problem that places human existence in peril for the sake of profits: time’s up. This legislation gives our pension funds the necessary time to prudently plan for divestment, including identifying suitable investment alternatives.

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Frequently Asked Questions – Senate Bill 252, The Fossil Fuel Divestment Act

By Shana DeClercq | March 15, 2023

CalPERS has roughly $9.4 billion dollars, and CalSTRS $5.4 billion dollars ($14.8 billion in all) of stock and bond investments in the top 200 coal, oil and gas production companies.

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Información de el proyecto de ley del Senado (SB) 252

By Shana DeClercq | March 13, 2023

¿Por qué es fundamental apoyar el proyecto de ley SB 252? Ahora, en el 2023, es tiempo de acabar con la contaminación de los combustibles fósiles que destruye nuestras comunidades y contamina nuestro aire, suelo y agua. TE NECESITAMOS para ayudar a aprobar el proyecto de ley SB 252 y desinvertir las pensiones públicas de…

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Photo of founding members of Fossil Free California, standing behind the large concrete CalPERS building sign, holding up the individual letters that spell out, "DIVEST."

The Seeds for Our Victory in 2023 — Planted in That Day 2013

By Deborah Silvey | February 10, 2023

What has kept us so committed to Fossil Free California since these early years? A sense of the urgency of climate change propelled our growth, even while we were  a small, wholly volunteer organization. We also had early success: in 2015 we were part of the coalition that helped pass Senate Bill 185, mandating divestment from thermal coal companies by both CalPERS and CalSTRS.

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Promises, Promises: Evaluating CalPERS’ Climate Engagements

By Clair Brown and | November 7, 2022

Full Report Here CalPERS seems to have an unshakeable faith in the ability of shareholder engagement to transform fossil fuel companies into clean energy providers.  This report reviews CalPERS’ engagement history with 10 selected Big Oil companies from its portfolio, to test whether engagement is producing real-world results. We looked at CalPERS’ proxy voting patterns…

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New report reveals California pensions CalPERS, CalSTRS vote NO on Big Oil shareholder climate resolutions

By CJ Koepp | June 8, 2022

The retirement systems’ failed shareholder engagement efforts with fossil fuel companies has cost their members $11.9 billion in returns California — A report released today from Fossil Free California reveals that California’s public pensions voted to oppose climate action at major fossil fuel companies and financiers during the 2022 Annual General Meeting season. This exposé…

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