March, 18 2014, 09:23am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Contact at 350.org: Jay Carmona, jay@350.org, 510-502-0752
Contact with 350 Massachusetts: Darcy Dumont, dumont140@yahoo.com, 413-210-2201
Deadline Looms for MA Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill
BOSTON
With a March 20th deadline for moving their bill out of committee quickly approaching, fossil fuel divestment advocates are increasingly worried that behind-the-scenes industry lobbying is holding up the process.
The legislation in question is Senate bill S.1225, a bill sponsored sponsored by State Senator Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield), that directs the Commonwealth's Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) to divest its assets from fossil fuel companies within five years. PRIT manages $54 billion of which $1.3 billion is invested in the 200 fossil fuel companies that hold the largest amounts of coal, oil and gas reserves and are being targeted by the Go Fossil Free divestment effort.
"The impacts of unchecked climate change on the Massachusetts economy would be astronomical," said Jay Carmona, Divestment Campaign Manager with 350.org, an international climate campaign that is helping spearhead the divestment effort. "Fossil fuel divestment is a way for the Commonwealth to help address this crisis, insulate itself from a growing carbon bubble, and set an example for other states to follow. This is the right move both morally and financially."
Hampshire College in Amherst was one of the first institutions in the country to divest. The towns and cities of Amherst, Northampton, Provincetown, Truro, and Cambridge have all passed resolutions supporting divestment. Many religious communities, including the Massachusetts United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Cambridge, have also endorsed divestment. The Massachusetts based John Merck Fund, the Chorus Foundation and the Solidago Foundation, recently joined 14 other foundations in committing to divestment. Meanwhile, active divestment campaigns are underway on many of the state's campuses, including a high profile effort at Harvard University.
The current legislation also has support of Treasurer Steve Grossman, who is now running for governor. Two of the current candidates for state treasurer, state Sen. Barry Finegold and former Brookline Selectwoman Deb Goldberg, have come out in favor of careful divestment.
Despite the feeling of momentum across the state and a large base of support for the bill, advocates are worried that fossil fuel industry pressure may be holding back progress. When the Joint Public Service committee held a hearing on the bill in September, a lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed up to give the lone testimony against the proposed legislation.
"We were concerned when a very well-connected American Petroleum Institute (API) lobbyist with a Senate and Gubernatorial background showed up to testify before the Committee on Public Service last fall," said Darcy DuMont, a volunteer with 350 Massachusetts who has been helping coordinate efforts to build public support for S1225. "We suspected that this lobbyist would also try to exert pressure on the legislators on the committee as well."
"This is exactly the type of dangerous political influence that the oil lobby exerts all over the country," said Carmona. "We hope that legislators will look closely at the clear financial data that shows divestment is both an ethical and financially prudent decision, rather than fall for cherry-picked statistics presented by a well-connected lobbyist."
The real financial risk is staying invested in fossil fuels
Financial analysts and experts are increasingly worried about the risk of a "carbon bubble" that will arise if coal, oil and gas reserves become stranded assets. If governments meet their commitment to keep global warming below 2degC, they will need to pass regulations that force fossil fuel companies to keep 60-80% of their fossil fuel reserves underground. The accessibility of those reserves are a major factor in determining these companies' share price. Once the reserves are marked as unburnable, the value of the fossil fuel industry could plummet, to the tune of trillions of dollars. As Paul Spedding, an oil and gas analyst at HSBC, told the Guardian: "The scale of 'listed' unburnable carbon revealed in this report is astonishing. This report makes it clear that 'business as usual' is not a viable option for the fossil fuel industry in the long term."
On the flipside, fossil fuel divestment poses little-to-no-risk and can help insulate a portfolio from the carbon bubble. According to a report by the Aperio Group, a group of respected financial advisors, fossil fuel divestment poses would increase portfolio risk by a roughly 0.01%. The report's lead author, Patrick Geddes, told reporters on a recent webinar that, "Statistically, it's basically noise."
A number of specific outside studies looking at divestment came to the conclusion that divestment would actually benefit a portfolio. A study looking at university divestment commissioned by the Associated Press last year concluded that, "an endowment of $1 billion that excluded fossil fuel companies would have grown to $2.26 billion over the past 10 years, but an endowment that included investments in fossil fuel companies would have grown to $2.14 billion. That extra $119 million could pay for 850 four-year scholarships, assuming tuition of $35,000 per year."
The fight ahead in Massachusetts
No matter the outcome in the state legislature, divestment activists in Massachusetts are pledging to keep up the pressure on the state to divest. The divestment effort in MA is being supported by 350MA, the Better Future Project, Mothers Out Front, Students for a Just and Stable Future, various Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Christ, and Episcopal Churches and other faith groups, SEIU Local 509 and other state workers and pensioners.
"Divestment is the right move for Massachusetts" said DuMont. "We deeply hope that our Massachusetts legislators will listen to the experts, not the people who stand to lose potential investors if our fund decides to put our money toward the future instead. This is a decision for the people of Massachusetts, not the fossil fuel industry."
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
LATEST NEWS
Sanders Demands Congress 'Immediately' Investigate Firing of CDC Director
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "must testify," and the CDC officials who were fired and resigned in protest also should be invited to do so, said the senator.
Aug 28, 2025
In the wake of a "Wednesday night massacre" at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and related resignations, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday called for an immediate congressional probe.
Just weeks after the Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's pick to lead the CDC, Dr. Susan Monarez, the director was forced out on Wednesday after reportedly clashing with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Her ouster led to calls for firing Kennedy, four other officials resigning in protest, and a related walkout by agency staff.
Sanders (I-Vt.) serves as ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and in a letter, he asked Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the panel's chair and a physician, to "immediately" call a hearing.
"I am very disturbed that the Trump administration apparently made this reckless decision because Director Monarez refused to act as a rubber stamp to implement Secretary Kennedy's dangerous agenda to substantially limit the use of safe and effective vaccines and undermine the confidence that the American people have in scientific achievements that have saved millions of lives," Sanders wrote to Cassidy.
RFK Jr. is pushing out scientific leaders who refuse to act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous conspiracy theories and manipulate science. Today, I am calling for a bipartisan congressional investigation into the firing of CDC Director Dr. Monarez.
[image or embed]
— Senator Bernie Sanders (@sanders.senate.gov) August 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
"We need leaders at the CDC and HHS who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science," he argued, "not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation that will endanger the lives of the American people and people throughout the world."
Sanders—who previously served as the panel's chair—asked Cassidy to launch a "bipartisan probe" and stressed that "as part of that investigation, Secretary Kennedy must testify at a hearing in the HELP Committee as soon as possible. We should also invite Dr. Monarez and the senior CDC officials who resigned to testify as well."
Noting that Cassidy on Wednesday "called for oversight of the firings and resignations at the agency," Sanders made the case that "as a start, the American people should hear directly from Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Monarez and every member of our committee should be able to ask questions and get honest answers from them."
The senator also took aim at the HHS chief, writing that "it is absolutely imperative that trust in vaccine science not be undermined. The well-being of millions of people are at stake. In just six months, Secretary Kennedy has completely upended the process for reviewing and recommending vaccines for the public."
"Enough is enough," he declared. "We have got to make it clear to Secretary Kennedy that his actions to double down on his war on science and disinformation campaign must end. Too many lives are at stake."
In a statement released later Thursday, after the walkout, Sanders applauded CDC workers "for standing up for science and protesting the reckless decision of Secretary Kennedy to push out leading scientists from the agency."
"Speaking up takes real courage," he said. "Now is the time for all of us—whether you are a Democrat, Republican, independent, progressive or conservative—to come together and say enough is enough. Vaccines are one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. We will not stand by silently as Secretary Kennedy takes them away."
"Let us be clear: We are witnessing a full-blown war on science, on public health, and on truth itself," Sanders emphasized. "In just six months, Secretary Kennedy has dismantled the vaccine review process, narrowed access to life-saving Covid vaccines, and filled scientific advisory boards with conspiracy theorists and ideologues. "
Slamming the reported reasons for Monarez's ouster as "outrageous and unacceptable," the senator concluded that "history will not look kindly on those who stayed silent in the face of this assault on science. We have a moral responsibility to act now."
This article has been updated with Sen. Bernie Sanders' statement on the walkout at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Top Human Rights Group Makes Case for Countries to 'Break Up' Big Tech
Amnesty International says Big Tech's consolidation of power "has profound implications for human rights, particularly the rights to privacy, nondiscrimination, and access to information."
Aug 28, 2025
One of the world's leading human rights groups, Amnesty International, is calling on governments worldwide to "break up with Big Tech" by reining in the growing influence of tech and social media giants.
A report published Thursday by Amnesty highlights five tech companies: Alphabet (Google), Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, which Hannah Storey, an advocacy and policy adviser on technology and human rights at Amnesty, describes as "digital landlords who determine the shape and form of our online interaction."
These five companies collectively have billions of active users, which the report says makes them akin to "utility providers."
"This concentration of power," the report says, "has profound implications for human rights, particularly the rights to privacy, nondiscrimination, and access to information."
The report emphasizes the "pervasive surveillance" by Google and Meta, which profit from "harvesting and monetizing vast quantities of our personal data."
"The more data they collect, the more dominant they become, and the harder it is for competitors to challenge their position," the report says. "The result is a digital ecosystem where users have little meaningful choice or control over how their data is used."
Meanwhile, Google's YouTube, as well as Facebook and Instagram—two Meta products—function using algorithms "optimized for engagement and profit," which emphasize content meant to provoke strong emotions and outrage from users.
"In an increasingly polarized context, the report says, "this can contribute to the rapid spread of discriminatory speech and even incitement to violence, which has had devastating consequences in several crisis and conflict-affected areas."
The report notes several areas around the globe where social media algorithms amplified ethnic hatred. It cites past research showing how Facebook's algorithm helped to "supercharge" dehumanizing rhetoric that fueled the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar and the violence in Ethiopia's Tigray War.
More broadly, it says, the ubiquity of these tech companies in users' lives gives them outsized influence over access to information.
"Social media platforms shape what millions of people see online, often through opaque algorithms that prioritize engagement over accuracy or diversity," it says. "Documented cases of content removal, inconsistent moderation, and algorithmic bias highlight the dangers of allowing a handful of companies to act as gatekeepers of the digital public sphere."
Amnesty argues that international human rights law requires governments worldwide to intervene to protect their people from abuses by tech companies.
"States and competition authorities should use competition laws as part of their human rights toolbox," it says. "States should investigate and sanction anti-competitive behaviours that harm human rights, prevent regulatory capture, and prevent harmful monopolies from forming."
Amnesty also calls on these states to consider the possible human rights impacts of artificial intelligence, which it describes as the "next phase" of Big Tech's growing dominance, with Microsoft, Amazon, and Google alone controlling 60% of the global cloud computing market.
"Addressing this dominance is critical, not only as a matter of market fairness but as a pressing human rights issue," Storey said. "Breaking up these tech oligarchies will help create an online environment that is fair and just."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'You Are Heroes': CDC Staff Stage Mass Walkout in Support of Officials Who Resigned in Protest
"We need congress to intervene," said one of the CDC officials who stepped down this week.
Aug 28, 2025
Staff members at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday staged a mass walkout in a show of support for three top officials who resigned in protest this week.
The three officials in question—Demetre Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan, and Debra Houry—resigned on Wednesday night to protest the ouster of former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez, who had just been confirmed weeks ago by the US Senate.
All three officials came to the CDC headquarters to clear out their offices and, as they left the building on Thursday afternoon, were followed out by hundreds of workers who cheered them and thanked them for their work at the agency.
Marissa Sarbak, a reporter with NBC Atlanta, posted a video showing the crowds that had gathered to support the departing officials.
Hundreds of people have come out to Roybal campus to show solidarity and support for the CDC leaders that resigned today following CDC Director Susan Monarez’s firing. We’re expecting the leaders who resigned to walk out in a few minutes. @11AliveNews pic.twitter.com/ptMuWcQMnY
— Marissa Sarbak (@MarissaSarbak) August 28, 2025
Sam Stein, a journalist at The Bulwark, reported that Houry gave a short speech outside the building in which she warned that the agency was in danger of falling apart and that more resignations would be coming soon unless drastic changes were made.
"We need congress to intervene," she emphasized.
Jernigan, who until Wednesday has served as the director of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, told The Washington Post that his "last straw" was being forced to work with David Geier, who has long pushed false theories linking childhood vaccinations to autism.
"The current administration has made it very difficult for me to stay," said Jernigan, who has nearly two decades of experience working at the CDC. "We have been asked to revise and to review and change studies that have been settled in the past, scientific findings that were there to help guide vaccine decisions."
Monarez was reportedly pushed out by Health Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who, like Geier, has also in the past pushed conspiracy theories linking vaccines to autism.
Kennedy's decision to oust Monarez has drawn bipartisan concern. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) have both called on President Donald Trump to fire Kennedy, while Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) called for HHS to postpone its scheduled Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting, given what he described as "serious allegations" that have been made by the resigned CDC officials.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular