December 18, 2017
By Bob Ciesielski, Chapter Energy Committee Chair
The Atlantic Chapter supports the bill sponsored by State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (S.4596/A.3712) that the NYS Comptroller divest New York State’s Pension Funds from the 200 top fossil-fuel companies. We also support reinvestment of these funds into renewable energy, energy efficiency and companies supporting a sustainable economy. To date, the worldwide divestment movement has resulted in over $4 trillion being removed from fossil-fuel stocks and bonds. Fossil-fuel investments are dangerous to both the climate and investors.
What can we do as individual Sierra Club members to not only divest from fossil fuels, but to reinvest? A number of us own mutual funds, and retirement 401K and 403B funds. While the stock market is quite high at this time, you may wish to divest from funds that contribute to climate change. Whether you have divested or would like to make new investments, the following websites may be helpful to get you started:
- Visit https://fossilfreefunds.org to find a search platform that enables you to find out if your investments are being used to extract and consume fossil fuels. Click on “How It Works” and you’ll see a short video explaining how you can use the site to check which percentage of your own mutual funds are invested in fossil fuels, and how to find replacement funds. Their “Carbon Underground 200” link shows the top 200 coal and oil/gas reserve owners in the world. Among other features, this site also contains a list of fossil-fuel–free mutual funds screened as Sustainable and Responsible Investments, as well as clean-only funds.
- Go to http://app.greenamerica.org/fossil-free/ for resources to divest from fossil-fuel companies and reinvest in the clean energy economy: mutual-fund exchanges; exchange-traded funds; certificates of deposit; financial advisors and planners; asset-management firms; and retirement options.
- Try the “Reform for Sustainable and Responsible Investment” website at http://charts.ussif.org/mfpc/, where a mutual fund chart displays all 202 sustainable and responsible mutual funds offered by US SIF’s institutional member firms. This SRI screen can help individual investors compare costs, financial performance, screens and voting records of competing funds. All of the funds listed are open to new investors.
We recommend you speak to your financial advisor. You may also want to expand your screening to avoid investing in other unsustainable industries such as nuclear power, chemical-based industrial agriculture, etc. And please — let your mutual fund know why you have switched.