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Dear Friend,
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has just been released, and the news is very bad.
The chances of staying under the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius is extremely slim. The sea has risen to dangerous levels, and the Arctic ice has melted to its lowest levels ever recorded. And no government is doing enough to stop climate change from getting worse.1
In fact, the U.S. government is still heavily invested in Big Oil in federal pension funds, depending on the success of the fossil fuel industry to grow.2
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The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) manages investments for 6 million federal workers and military personnel. The funds are invested at an estimated $10 to $20 billion in Big Oil.3
Maine just became the first state to require its state pension fund to divest from Big Oil. California and New York just used its investment to pressure a board change at ExxonMobil to promote energy transition from fossil fuels.4 Even the asset management firm that oversees the TSP funds is moving its non-federal money away from fossil fuels, but it requires government board approval to do that with the TSP, and so far, the board is standing firm with Big Oil.5
A divestment from Big Oil by the federal government would weaken the companies, and send a strong message that we are serious about combatting climate change.
But the federal government is not only staying invested with Big Oil. It’s continuing to support subsidies for the industry that could go into promoting green energy instead. And the Biden administration is on track to approve 6,000 new oil drilling permits on public lands—more than since George W. Bush was president.6
The IPCC report is just further evidence that climate change is a problem that all of us must address. We’ve mobilized tens of thousands of Demand Progress members to contact the Biden administration and Congress, urging them to end fossil fuel projects, such as pipelines and drilling on federal land. Now we need your help to continue putting our grassroots power behind getting the Biden administration to stop its support of Big Oil.
Will you chip in $10 to help convince the Biden administration to act seriously on climate change?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
PS: Your contributions are what keep us nimble and prepared to take on important fights like these as they happen. Will you become a monthly donor to keep our work going?
Sources:
1. Quartz, "We read the 4000-page IPCC climate report so you don’t have to," August 12, 2021
2. Bloomberg Law, "Energy Investment and the ERISA ESG Spigot," July 8, 2021
3. Labor Notes, "Get Fossil Fuels Out of Our Pension, Say Environmental Protection Workers," June 3, 2021
4. Bloomberg Law, "Energy Investment and the ERISA ESG Spigot," July 8, 2021
5. Labor Notes, "Get Fossil Fuels Out of Our Pension, Say Environmental Protection Workers," June 3, 2021
6. NPR, "Biden Promised To End New Drilling On Federal Land, But Approvals Are Up," July 13, 2021
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