By Nancy Romer, Portside, March 2, 2018
After five years of tireless organizing, the movement to divest NYC public worker pension funds from fossil fuels scored a win. On January 10, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City will divest the $5 billion of its pension funds presently invested in fossil fuel stocks. It will also sue the top five fossil fuel corporations—ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips—charging that because they hid the evidence that burning fossil fuels causes climate change, they are responsible for the billions of dollars the city has spent on climate remediation.
The divestment campaign provides an excellent example of how dedicated organizing, clear demands and strategies, creative tactics, strong coalitions and good luck can come together for a win.
Divestment Launch
The US Divestment movement was popularized in 2012 through the national “Do The Math” tour, led by 350.org’s Bill McKibben and author Naomi Klein. Borrowing a page from the successful anti-apartheid divestment campaign directed at South Africa in the 1980’s, 350’s focus was fossil fuel divestment in colleges, universities, foundations and non-profits. While pension funds were on the list, little attention was initially paid to them.
In New York City and New York State, Divest NY became the campaign’s lead coalition, headed by local 350NYC from the beginning and supported by national 350.org throughout. It was joined by DivestInvest Network, NY Communities for Change, Peoples Climate Movement-NY, NYC-Democratic Socialists of American Climate Justice Working Group, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY (AFT), NY State Nurses Association, NY State Green Party and many individuals.
In 2012, Divest NY started lobbying, building alliances, and creating the groundwork for a broader movement. Public pension member unions began to support: United Federation of Teachers (UFT) passed a resolution calling for a feasibility study on divestment from fossil fuels and for total divestment from coal; PSC-CUNY passed resolutions supporting immediate fossil fuel divestment on city and state levels, as did the NY State Nurses Association; and AFSCME DC 37 rallied members and leaders to consider divestment.
Gaining Support for Divestment
After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New York’s mainstream media was largely reluctant to expose climate change’s threat to coastal NYC, due in part, as author Ashley Dawson explains, to the powerful interests of NYC’s real estate industry.
In 2015, defying this silence, New York’s Public Advocate Letitia James came out in support of full fossil fuel divestment—coal, oil, and gas-- and publicly spoke about climate change and became the primary climate advocate in the political class. In 2016, the intense anti-pipeline confrontation lead by indigenous people at Standing Rock activated and inspired people around indigenous rights and the dangers of fossil fuels. After the Standing Rock encampment was raided, many of the younger leaders pushed supporters to take their money out of banks that supported the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Divestment became a form of direct action.
Trump’s election helped to clarify the politics of the fossil fuel industry. As exemplified by the Koch brothers, the fossil fuel industry was exposed for buying political influence through campaign contributions and distributing misleading information denying climate change. Trump accommodated by stacking his administration with industry leaders and lobbyists, including former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson and industry apologist Scott Pruitt, while removing decades-worth of environmental protections and regulations, and scrubbing the Environmental Protection Agency’s website of any reference to climate change.
By early 2017, the tide was turning (and rising) about climate change. Trump’s election spurred new resistance, giving the climate movement a remarkable burst of human energy. NYC-based “Climate Works 4 All” and NY State-based “NY Renews”, two broad-based policy coalitions that came out of the massive 2014 NYC Peoples Climate March, both with deep union, environmental justice, and community participation welcomed dozens of grassroots groups and union locals into the world of climate politics.
When Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Accords in June 2017, the climate movement determined that it would be most productive to work at the city and state levels to counteract federal policies. Next came the climate catastrophes of late summer and autumn 2017—Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, wildfires raging in northern and southern California,earthquakes in Mexico—put everyone on alert. Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico struck a particularly hard blow for New Yorkers. That our “6th borough” was wiped out and tens of thousands of our relatives were streaming to the mainland for shelter, became an acute source of pain.
It was in this fertile soil that Divest NY sank its roots deeper and grew a broader, more effective movement through forums and rallies, extensive lobbying with City elected officials and their pension fund advisors, demonstrations at pension board meetings, birddogging NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, who was initially the main city opponent. Divestment’s popular support made it one of the central demands in the mass march commemorating the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy in October 2017. All this activity gave the divestment movement a voice, dynamism, and trajectory that couldn’t be ignored when the political climate shifted.
In November, 2017, Divest NY worked closely with NYC Public Advocate Letitia (Tish) James to organize a large public hearing that was attended by over 300 people. This hearing fortified the climate movement as a broad-based, multi-faceted effort that advanced a “just transition” to a renewable energy economy that included jobs for those most negatively affected by climate change—poor and working-class people and people of color. The climate crisis was cast as an opportunity to address the inequalities in our society, with divestment as the most repeated mantra of the day: drop support for the deadly fossil fuel economy and use those funds to create a sustainable and just world.
Mayor de Blasio handily won re-election for his last term in November 2017. Despite his minimal campaign on climate policies, the big win gave him lots of political space.
Divestment Strategy Contested
For several years, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and NY State Comptroller di Napoli shared a “shareholder activism” perspective that contended that retaining fossil fuel stocks allows the big pension funds to influence the industry through shareholder power. Despite what the Washington Post called a “shareholders rebellion”, this approach has failed to prod the giant fossil fuel corporations into a different business model. While Stringer ultimately abandoned this “shareholder activism” position once Cuomo and de Blasio came out for divestment, di Napoli continues to cling to this approach.
While pension funds are the largest and potentially most powerful investors in the stock market, larger than banks and investment houses, rules governing pension funds make shifts in investments complicated. The financial health of a pension fund is the primary concern; “moral” decisions are peripheral. Tom Sanzillo, first deputy comptroller of New York State, was one of the earliest public investment experts to suggest that fossil fuel stocks are in jeopardy of a quick nosedive that could harm pension fund members significantly. He argues that fossil fuel stocks are over-valued due to oversupply and that capital spending in the sector has dropped indicating that oil companies themselves see a limited future. Indeed, fossil fuel stock values have declined over the past five years compared with the general stock indices, making them a bad investment.
If the remaining oil and gas continues to be burned at the current rate, the planet will warm beyond the point in which human life will be possible so we must leave them in the ground. This turns fossil fuel assets into “stranded assets,” which bodes poorly for the health of their stocks and puts fiduciary responsibility to divest from fossil fuels into play. Once the financial argument could be made, the moral and political claim had a clearer path forward.
Labor Weighs In
One of Divest NY’s limitations was a lack of active participation of public sector unions invested in the pension funds. NYC has five separate pension funds - for teachers (United Federation of Teachers and Professional Staff Congress - CUNY), public workers (mostly AFSCME District Council 37, Transport Workers Union, Teamsters 271), Firefighters, Police, and Educational Management. Each pension board has a mix of trustees appointed by the unions, the mayor, comptroller, public advocate, and/or borough presidents. Divest NY continued to push those trustees over the course of the campaign. There were union resolutions and rank and file support from three of the city unions—PSC-CUNY, UFT and AFSCME DC 37—but without much traction with the trustees.
The political dam broke on Dec. 19, 2017, when New York State Governor Cuomo announced his support for fossil fuel divestment of the state Common Pension Fund, which controls more capital than the five funds of NYC put together. Within hours, NYC Comptroller Stringer announced his support. Three weeks later, NYC Mayor de Blasio joined in. Divest NY was brought into the planning and announcement of the news release and was given full credit for its organizing work. de Blasio’s progressive credentials were further burnished.
Where Does Divestment Go From Here?
The divestment movement is delighted with the dramatic results of our efforts. While there are declared allies inside government, our movement needs to be vigilant that these elected officials follow through on their commitment to divest in a timely manner. Already there is push back from the NYC Teachers, Police, Firefighters fund trustees, either rejecting outright the calls for divestment from the mayor or asking for further studies, delaying the process.
The turn-around time to fully divest NYC pension funds from fossil fuel stocks is expected to be four to five years during which time as a movement, we need to start conversations with unions and environmental justice frontline community leaders about how to re-invest those billions of dollars of pension funds.
The organizing operation must expand to the state level to ensure that the larger-yet NY State public pension fund divests as well, potentially another $6 billion divested from fossil fuel holdings. And beyond, NY State, the divestment movement has additional targets, particularly in big cities and states with progressive populations and leadership. Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS), a national labor and climate advocacy organization, is working with 350.org and the Climate Justice Alliance to target public pension funds in other cities and states to advance divestment and re-investment efforts toward a “just transition”. LNS just launched a “Guide to Divestment” that helps union members decide and act on divestment campaigns across the nation.
Both the value of divestment as a climate demand and the ways in which it might link to frontline communities will be addressed by this author in other articles. Right now divestment campaigns advance awareness of the role of fossil fuels in creating climate change; they create a platform to view the fossil fuel industry as a pariah. Loosening up those billions of dollars presently invested in fossil fuel stocks-- $5 billion in NYC public pension funds and $6 billion in NY State funds alone—creates an opening for conversations with the climate justice and labor movements as to where we do want to invest to create a just transition to renewable energy. Support for publicly owned renewable energy, pubic transit and public housing could be invested in through publicly-traded bonds with guaranteed returns. Public banks could be backed as they choose more locally defined, perhaps smaller-scale, sustainable community projects.
The divestment movement must learn a great deal about pension fund investments and how to safely and legally make these shifts. Community engagement, especially of frontline communities most affected by climate change, will be needed as well. Unions, climate organizations and the environmental justice community working together could be a game changer in all of these movements. The potential of using those billions of dollars presently being used to destroy our planet to provide the capital to contribute to a just transition is powerful indeed.
Nancy Romer is a labor and environmental activist. She served on the Executive Council of Professional Staff Congress of CUNY (AFT #2334) for nine years. She is an active member of the PSC’s Environmental Justice Working Group and has served on the steering committees of Peoples Climate Movement-NY, Divest NY. She is on the National Working Group on Climate Justice for Democratic Socialists of America, and works with Labor Network for Sustainability. She is Professor Emerita Brooklyn College, CUNY.
Thank you to Linda Farthing, Jeremy Brecher, Jim Shultz, Nancy Holmstrom, Christine Pries, Charlie Heller, and Fred Murphy for ideas and edits.
For a petition to advance divestment of pension and other funds from fossil fuel holdings, please see https://www.thepetitionsite.com/403/755/000/join-the-1000-cities-campaign-reject-fossil-fuels-amp-commit-to-100-renewable-energy/
===Editor's note: Brain Tokar shared the following additional information that is missing from Nancy Romer's essay.
===Editor's note: Brain Tokar shared the following additional information that is missing from Nancy Romer's essay.
Nancy Romer neglects [sic] to mention the protean efforts of CUNY students in helping to get fossil fuel divestment resolutions passed in most of the university student governments including tree resolutions passed by the University Student Senate (USS). In 2015, CUNY Divest received USS's 2015 award at its 2015 banquet for the best new CUNY club.
CUNY DIVEST HISTORY
March 2013
CUNY Divest held first campaign meeting.
June 24, 2013
CUNY Divest attended CUNY Board of Trustees Public Hearing at CUNY-Hostos Community College.
August 13, 2013
CUNY Divest attended meeting with CUNY Administration: CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza; CUNY Chief Investment Officer, Janet Krone; and CUNY University Controller, Leonard Zinnanti to discuss fossil fuel divestment.
October 1, 2013
CUNY Divest had a follow-up call with CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, where campaign was told, “It did not make sense to divest from fossil fuels at this time†.
October 20, 2013
CUNY University Student Senate passed Fossil Fuel Divestment & Reinvestment Resolution.
Week of October 20, 2013
CUNY Graduate Center Doctoral Students Council and CUNY-New York City College of Technology’s Student Government Association passed Fossil Fuel Divestment & Reinvestment Resolution.
October 28, 2013
CUNY Divest, NYU Divest, Barnard Columbia Divest and others attended “Turn the Tide Rally†at City Hall where event called attention to the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and climate change.
November 1, 2013
CUNY Divest held “A Night of Film, Performance and Climate Justice†event at CUNY-Hunter College’s West Lobby, where Tony Gronowicz, Green Party Candidate for Mayor of NYC.
Week of November 18, 2013
CUNY Divest participated in fast in solidarity with Philippines Climate Commissioner, Yeb Sano, in light of Typhoon Haiyan and climate negotiations in Warsaw, Poland.
December 11, 2013
CUNY Divest delivered holiday package to the office of CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, which included letter and collection of photo petitions from CUNY students.
January 21, 2014
CUNY Divest held a mass call-in day action to the office of CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, to urge administration to schedule a meeting with CUNY’s financial advisor, Cambridge Associates.
February 13
Matthew Sapienza’s secretary, Monica Baldon, sends email stating further postponement of Cambridge Associates meeting.
February 19
Originally was first tentative date for Cambridge Associates meeting disclosed by Matthew Sapienza’s secretary, Monica Baldon (postponed on February 13)
March 12, 2014
CUNY-Borough Of Manhattan Community College’s Student Government Association passed Fossil Fuel Divestment and Reinvestment Resolution.
March 13, 2014
CUNY-Professional Staff Congress (CUNY’s faculty union) passed Fossil Fuel Divestment and Reinvestment Resolution.
March 20, 2014
CUNY-City College of New York’s Undergraduate Student Government passed Fossil Fuel Divestment and Reinvestment Resolution.
March 26, 2014
CUNY-Hunter College’s Undergraduate Student Government passed Divestment and Reinvestment Resolution.
April 4-6, 2014
CUNY Divest connected with fossil fuel divestment network at Divestment Convergence in San Francisco, California.
April 8, 2014
CUNY-Baruch College’s Undergraduate Student Government passed Fossil Fuel Divestment and Reinvestment Resolution.
April 11, 2014
CUNY-Medgar Evers College’s Student Government Association and Bronx Community College’s Student Government Association passed Fossil Fuel Divestment and Reinvestment Resolution.
May 8, 2014
CUNY-College of Staten Island’s student government passed Fossil Fuel Divestment and Reinvestment Resolution.
May 16, 2014
CUNY Divest briefly met with CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, during the City Council Budget Hearing and discussed a meeting on June 6th (target date) at the Counsel.
June 2, 2014
CUNY Divest met with CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, and Board of Trustees members, Wellington Chen, Kay Conroy, Joe Lhota, and Phil Berry during Board of Trustees Finance Committee meeting.
CUNY Divest emailed Fiscal Affairs Committee (including CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza; CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, Allan Dobrin; and CUNY Vice Chancellor, Iris Weinshall) asking to meet to discuss fossil fuel divestment (with supporting reports attached).
June 3, 2014
CUNY Divest emailed CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza on presenting case on fossil fuel divestment to the CUNY Board of Trustees.
June 4-6, 2014
CUNY Divest attended United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum.
June 6, 2014
CUNY Divest attended New York City Council Budget Hearing.
June 9, 2014
CUNY Divest called the office of CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, to follow-up with CUNY Divest via email; Sapienza’s secretary, Monica Baldon, responded by saying he may be able to respond Thursday, June 12, but will remind him to follow-up. Throughout the week, CUNY Divest called Sapienza's office.
June 12, 2014
CUNY Divest emailed NYC Council Committee on Finance with supporting reports; CUNY Divest met CUNY Vice Chancellor for Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza at NYC Counsel where he claimed that he received the emails that were sent and was “trying to coordinate with the Board†.
June 23, 2014
CUNY Divest attended CUNY Board of Trustees Public Hearing at Hostos Community College - CUNY students, faculty, and alums joined by supporters from NYU Divest, Mt. Holyoke, and REC. After hearing, campaign was approached by Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, Allan Dobrin whom acknowledged the sound logic behind the arguments presented by the campaign for divestment .
June 27, 2014
Hostos Community College’s Student Government Association passed Fossil Fuel Divestment & Reinvestment Resolution.
June 30, 2014
CUNY Divest attended Board of Trustees Meeting at Baruch College and met with CUNY Board of Trustee, Benno Schmidt; CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor & Chief Operating Officer, Allan Dobrin; CUNY Chancellor, James B. Milliken; and other CUNY Board of Trustee members, and brought up issue of fossil fuel divestment.
July 7, 2014
CUNY Divest sent email to CUNY Chancellor, James B. Milliken; CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor & Chief Operating Officer; Allan Dobrin, & CUNY Vice Chancellor for Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, requesting meeting between Finance Committee before start of Fall ‘14 (attached reports).
July 17, 2014
CUNY Divest sent email to CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor & Chief Operating Officer, Allan Dobrin; CUNY Chancellor, James Milliken; and CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, listing collected research on fossil fuel divestment.
Sept. 2, 2014
CUNY Divest received reply email from CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, about collected research and announced the CUNY Board of Trustees Subcommittee on Investments will be talking about fossil fuel investments at the Subcommittee of Investment meeting on September 8, 2014.
Sept. 8, 2014
CUNY attended CUNY Board of Trustees Subcommittee on Investments meeting where Managing Director Mark Fowler and Managing Director Thomas Smitt-Jeppesen of Cambridge Associates attend.
Sept. 21, 2014
CUNY Divest attended People’s Climate March; USS unanimously passed another fossil fuel divestment resolution
Sept. 22, 2014
CUNY Divest attended CUNY Board of Trustees Public Hearing at Baruch College and spoke on concerns addressed during CUNY Board of Trustees Subcommittee on Investments meeting
October 27, 2014
CUNY Divest emailed CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza following up on Investments meeting asking for Board’s stance on divestment and received reply from Sapienza claiming “the Subcommittee on Investment is taking these reports under advisement and for consideration, including all of the materials that were received from CUNY Divest and the University.â€
Nov. 16, 2014
Wall Street Journal published an article on CUNY Divest.
Nov. 17, 2014
CUNY Divest followed up with CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, regarding developments on fossil fuel divestment discussion during the November 3 Fiscal Affairs Committee where CUNY’s fossil fuel investments were discussed (also featured WSJ article); Sapienza responded: “The divestment issue was not discussed at the 11/3 Board of Trustees Fiscal Committee Meeting. If you need any additional information, please let me know.â€
Nov. 20, 2014
After following up once more with CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, regarding the CUNY Board of Trustee’s stance on fossil divestment, Sapienza responded claiming “the Board of Trustees’ Subcommittee on Investments is reviewing the materials that were provided and taking this issue under consideration. I will keep you posted as to any new developments.†Â
Nov. 24, 2014
CUNY Divest attended CUNY Board of Trustees public hearing at Baruch College.
Dec. 9, 2014
CUNY-Brooklyn College’s Student Government passed Fossil Fuel Divestment & Reinvestment Resolution.
Dec. 21, 2014
CUNY Divest connected with CUNY University Student Senate at the U.S.S. Plenary Meeting.
January 20, 2015
CUNY Divest attended CUNY Board of Trustees public hearing at Baruch College.
January 29, 2015
CUNY Divest emailed CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, to demand fossil fuel divestment be added to the Board of Trustees calendar for their meeting on Tuesday, February 24.
February 17, 2015
CUNY Divest attended Brooklyn Borough hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall with support from NYU Divest.
April 15, 2015
CUNY Divest visited the Office of the Chancellor and delivered Earth Day press conference invitation addressed to CUNY Chancellor, James B. Milliken.
April 16, 2015
CUNY Divest invited CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken; Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza; and Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, Allan Dobrin, to Earth Day press conference via email; campaign received response from Scheduling Coordinator stating Milliken “is already committed to two other events that afternoon.â€
April 20, 2015
CUNY Divest attended Queens Borough Hearing at Queens Borough Hall and delivered the Earth Day press conference invitations as well as verbally inviting CUNY Chancellor, James B. Milliken, and the CUNY Board of Trustees. Milliken responded and promised that he'll try to send someone to attend the press conference.
April 22, 2015
CUNY Divest held Earth Day press conference on Icarus Plaza of CUNY-Borough of Manhattan Community College campus where Council Member Stephen Levin, Chris Fici of GreenFaith and Professor of Finance Charles Allison (both representing two recently divested institutions: the Union Theological Seminary and the New School, respectively) spoke in support of fossil fuel divestment within CUNY.
April 30, 2015
CUNY Divest met with Council Member Donovan Richards to discuss fossil fuel divestment.
May 1, 2015
CUNY Divest followed up with CUNY Chancellor, James B. Milliken, regarding the success of the Earth Day press conference.
May 3, 2015
CUNY University Student Senate passed third fossil fuel divestment and reinvestment resolution.
June 8, 2015
CUNY Divest called Office of the Secretary to request to have Fossil Fuel Divestment placed as a calendar item for the Committee of Fiscal Affairs meeting in September 2015. The secretary said she would forward the request to Frederick Shaffer, General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs; and Jay Hershenson, Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Secretary of the Board of Trustees.
June 11, 2015
Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza followed up on the call/email that requested to have divestment as a calendar item for the Committee on Fiscal Affairs meeting in September. He informed the campaign of the process in doing so, and to follow-up mid-August.
June 22, 2015
CUNY Divest attended Bronx Borough Hearing at Hostos Community College and raised awareness to the CUNY Board of Trustees the recent dialogue that happened between the campaign and CUNY Vice Chancellor of Budget and Finance, Matthew Sapienza, and delivered a testimony requesting the CUNY Board of Trustees add fossil fuel divestment as a calendar item for the Committee on Fiscal Affairs meeting on September 9, 2015 to ultimately have it discussed during the Board of Trustees meeting on October 1, 2015.
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