John,
We need your help to pass SB 1173, California’s Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill, which would require the two largest public pension funds in the country to divest billions from fossil fuel companies.
For years, the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) and the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) have invested heavily in the fossil fuel industry.
CalPERS and CalSTRS have an estimated $9 BILLION invested in the fossil fuel industry. As a result, they’re not only funding the destruction of our planet, but have lost $17.4 billion dollars over the last ten years by investing in a dying industry – taking retirement money away from our teachers and public employees.1
SB 1173 would require CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest from fossil fuels by July 2030. The bill has been passed by the California State Senate and will be heard by the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee in one week.
Even if you don't live in California, making your voice heard today will have a HUGE impact on our ability to win this fight, which is why we are asking:
Here’s three ways you can help:
Please pick whatever action works best for you, or if you’d like, complete all three!
Send a letter to the members of the Committee: This letter targets Assemblymembers who are in the Public Employment and Retirement Committee. Send a letter using this form asking them to vote YES on SB 1173.
If you can, adapt our pre-written letter or write your own. Even changing the subject line and adding a paragraph at the beginning of the letter can significantly increase your impact.
Call the Committee Members: You can find the numbers for the committee members in the link above. Please share a quick comment (including your name, where you live, and “I urge you to support SB 1173” followed by your own reasons for supporting the bill (Have you been impacted by a climate disaster? Why is climate action important to you?) Remember to thank the staffer for their time!
Help spread the word on social media: Please click to share our pre-written Tweet above to help spread the word and call on the chair of the committee, Jim Cooper, to vote YES.
Assembly member Cooper has accepted nearly $37,000 in campaign donations from dirty fossil fuel money, so we need to make sure he listens to the people, not Exxon or Chevron.2
We know these fights can be won, John. In 2020, our movement successfully pressured New York state to divest its $226 billion pension fund from the riskiest oil and gas companies, becoming biggest fossil fuel divestment by a pension fund in the world.3
People want to know that their pension funds make a profit to ensure a healthy retirement and that they aren’t endangering their lives, their children’s future, or the future of our planet.
Real people are suffering right now on the frontlines of climate impacts, whether from hurricanes, typhoons, fires, floods, pollution or heat waves. They are also suffering on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction.
Together, CalPERS and CalSTRS have invested over $593 million in TotalEnergies and CNOOC, the oil giants behind the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
It’s unacceptable and we’re calling on every member of the California Assembly to take a stand by voting YES on SB 1173 to end the reckless use of retirement funds to pump billions to the fossil fuel industry.
Please send a letter now or take one of the actions above before next Wednesday’s crucial hearing.
Thank you for reading and for speaking out.
Team 350
1 - Fossil Free California
2 - Tracking Dirty Dollars - Sierra Club California
3 - The New York Times
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350.org is a global movement that fights for a just and equitable world by stopping the fossil fuel industry from continuing to destroy our climate.