CFA-Sponsored Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill Passes First Test, Off to Second Senate Committee
California’s two largest pension systems are a step closer to having to divest from fossil fuel companies.
Senate Bill 1173, CFA’s sponsored Fossil Fuel Divestment Act, passed out of the State Senate’s Labor Committee on Monday. The bill would require CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest about $9 billion from coal, oil, and gas companies by 2027.
“[…] Fossil Fuel divestment act passed out of labor cmte!!” wrote Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) on Twitter on Monday. Gonzalez, along with Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), introduced the bill back in February.
The vote comes as the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest, dire report that the window is closing to prevent the worst impacts of global warming.
Our advocacy as a union began last year, when CFA member leaders passed a resolution during CFA’s 92nd Assembly in Spring 2021 calling for the divestment of fossil fuels from CalPERS.
As sponsors of the bill, CFA believes that SB 1173 seizes the momentum of the worldwide divestment movement and continues the bold and progressive actions that California must take to address climate change. The bill would end the contradictory and incongruous polices that position the state as a leader in the fight against climate change, while simultaneously investing billions in the fossil fuel companies that are causing climate change.
More than 80 organizations, including labor organizations joined CFA to support this bill.
SB 1173 is off to the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing and vote. A date is yet to be determined.
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