February, 26 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Delivering Thousands of Petitions, New Yorkers Take Creative Action, Lobby for Fossil Fuel Divestment
NYS Comptroller DiNapoli sends unprecedented letter to full state legislature opposing divestment, Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz respond
Albany, NY
Over 50 people rallied in New York's capital today urging Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and state officials to stand for a Green New Deal for New York by supporting action to divest the state pension fund from fossil fuels. Traveling from across the state, participants staged a tug of war between New Yorkers and fossil fuel executives, with a garbed DiNapoli in the middle. Following the stunt, activists began a series of meetings with 40 legislators, urging passage of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act.
"I lost everything in Sandy and then my family in Puerto Rico also were flooded out in Maria. New York City is divesting its pension funds and even Governor Cuomo supports state divestment," said Rachel Rivera a Sandy survivor and member of New York Communities for Change (NYCC). "How many people need to die from climate change? How many need to lose their homes? What the hell is wrong with Comptroller DiNapoli that he doesn't understand that pumping investments into companies whose business model destroys the state is simply insane?"
The Fossil Fuel Divestment Act, co-sponsored by New York State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, currently has 22 senate and 30 assembly sponsors. Yesterday, Krueger and Ortiz released a clear-eyed response to an unusual letter from DiNapoli where he lobbied against the bill. The Comptroller sending such a letter to the full legislature is highly unprecedented.
"Climate change is the single greatest threat facing humanity; the only rational response is to use every tool at our disposal to prevent and mitigate its most catastrophic impacts," said Senator Liz Krueger. "Divesting our state pension fund from fossil fuels will protect workers and retirees from the rapid loss of valuation that fossil fuel companies will suffer in the coming energy transition. It will also send a powerful message that it is no longer acceptable to invest in a business model that puts our entire planet at risk. The climate crisis is here - fiduciary and moral responsibility require the process of divestment to begin now."
Pensioners, community members, and young people launched the call for DiNapoli to divest the day after Superstorm Sandy hit, a storm which devastated the lives and livelihoods of New Yorkers, and cost taxpayers over $60 billion with recovery still ongoing. In January 2018, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer announced their commitment to divest the City's similar-sized pension funds within five years. To date, over 1020 institutions representing more than $8 trillion in assets have committed to divest.
As a person living on a state pension, I am outraged that the state retiree fund is continuing to support the fossil fuel industry and its continuing damage to our climate," said Steve Redler, pensioneer and resident of Bethlehem in Albany County. "Studies show the state retiree fund experienced a lower return in recent years because it maintained its fossil fuel investments. Divestment is a way of increasing the security of our planet -- and my financial security as well."
Still, DiNapoli is investing $13 billion of pension money in fossil fuel companies, despite proof of financial imprudence. This includes $1 billion in ExxonMobil, a company currently being sued for fraud by NY attorney general Tish James. DiNapoli has ignored calls to divest, arguing instead for shareholder engagement, despite Reuters recently revealing Exxon's attempts yet again to block his climate resolution from going to a vote at the company's annual meeting.
During his State of the State, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed state agencies to begin the process of divestment. DiNapoli remains isolated as the world urgently moves off fossil fuels, and as New York takes bold action for a Green New Deal.
"Enough is enough. It's time for New York State to divest from companies using fossil fuel sources that continue to continue to destroy our atmosphere and waterways," said Assistant Speaker Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. "We can no longer allow corporate pollution to jeopardize future generations. I've re-introduced my Fossil Fuel Divestment bill to take the state's money out of the pockets of corporate polluters. Hurricane Sandy and the re-occurring polar vortexes taught us the lessons to invest in renewable energy. Let's take one step forward through divestment."
Today's events take place in the lead-up to the March 20 forum for a Green New Deal for NY and ahead of an April 30 formal legislative hearing on the Divestment bill convened by Senator Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Felix Ortiz.
QUOTE SHEET:
Ruth Foster, Director of the NY Climate Advocacy Project, said: "How long do we have to wait until politicians realize that global warming is already a crisis? People are dying now from wildfires, hurricanes, drought and the polar vortex. Not only is it immoral to fund the fossil fuel industry, it is also fiscally irresponsible. Funding the fossil fuel industry today is like funding horse and buggy industry in the 1920s. We need Comptroller DiNapoli to divest from the fossil fuel companies now."
Cata Romo, Fossil Free New York Campaigner, 350.org, said: "As a New Yorker, my community is living with the impacts of climate chaos now. We see it in heatwaves and polar vortexes; in fires scorching the west coast; in superstorms harming our sisters and brothers in Puerto Rico. I want my Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, to lead by cutting ties with fraudulent companies like Exxon and fracked gas pipeline companies like Williams. It's time DiNapoli make New York a real leader in investing in climate solutions."
Rich Schrader, NY Political Director for NRDC, said: "Divestment shines a light on the need to cut loose fiscal ties with powerful polluters. We need more of our leaders to follow Governor Cuomo's lead and take bold action to ensure our energy policies represent the interests of our children and grandchildren - that means doing without dirty fossil fuels and charting a better, safer, healthier way forward. It's up to Comptroller DiNapoli to get on board - there's no time to wait."
Clara Vondrich, Director Divest Invest, said: "Comptroller DiNapoli is leaving billions of dollars on the table by refusing to divest: The fossil fuel industry is underperforming and volatile, finishing dead last in the S&P500 last year. If you are a day trader with a high risk appetite, fossil fuels are for you. But as a long-term investor with fiduciary duties, Comptroller DiNapoli has no business gambling with the hard-won pension benefits of New Yorkers. A study last year by Corporate Knights was clear: Each beneficiary of the state pension fund would have been about $19,000 richer had Comptroller DiNapoli divested a decade ago. That's real money that New Yorkers need now. Stop digging the hole deeper for your pensioners and the planet -- Divest Invest."
Greg Young, Supervisor of Fulton County, said: "As the world moves to end the era of fossil fuels, the financial risk of staying invested continues to grow for our pensioners. Climate change is harming our communities, and we must use all tools at our disposal to curb the destructive influence of the companies most responsible, and invest in climate solutions that benefit local communities and make them more resilient."
Mark Dunlea, Chairperson of the Green Education and Legal Fund, said: "The IPCC has called for immediate action to end the era of fossil fuels and increase the likelihood that life on our planet can survive climate change. Divestment from fossil fuels is also critical to protect taxpayers and public workers from the growing loss of value from the fossil fuel sector. It is unfortunate that the present state comptroller wants to talk to fossil fuel companies rather than provide national leadership to demand climate action. We urge state lawmakers to make New York the first state in the U.S. to divest from fossil fuels."
Dorian Fulvio, 350NYC, said: "Comptroller DiNapoli claims to recognize the risk that climate change poses to financial markets. Yet he refuses to divest the State's pension fund assets from fossil fuel investments, claiming that a " shareholder engagement" strategy will persuade these companies to change. His approach has been a failure both financially (in the form of pension fund losses from poorly performing fossil fuel investments) and strategically (because these companies haven't changed anything, and have no intention of doing so). We have precious little time to get off fossil fuels. Let's not waste that time in hopeless negotiations that leave our pension funds at risk."
Eileen Moran, Chair, Environmental Justice Working Group, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, AFT local 2334, said: "The PSC Environmental Justice Working Group strongly supports the divesting of public pensions out of fossil fuels and the financial interests that would make morel drilling , extraction or pipelines possible. To have healthy retirements we need to leave 80% of the already identified fossil fuels in the ground. Already fossil fuel stocks are doing poorly compared with the general index funds. Divesting pensions from fossil fuel will both protect our pensions from devalued fossil fuel stocks and send a message to the industry's bankers that they will lose even more money if they support more fossil fuel development and infrastructure. Instead, let's invest our pensions for a Green New Deal."
Nancy Romer, Environmental Justice Working Group, PSC-CUNY AFT local 2334, Executive Council member, 2000-2009, retiree, said: "How shocking that NY State Comptroller DiNapoli is still fronting for the fossil fuel industry! Pensioneers should not be suffering from financial holdings that are declining in value compared to the general stock index and are harming the future of our families, communities and planet. The fossil fuel-based economy must be completely replaced by one that is based completely on renewable energy. The IPCC report and several other science-based reports make it clear that we have 12 years to make this turn-around Let's protect pensions from the inevitable nose-dive of fossil fuel stock values and use our pensions to support a positive future with renewable energy."
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.
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Ahead of Treaty Negotiations, Hundreds March to 'End the Plastic Era'
"As adults who come to Ottawa to negotiate the plastic treaty, you must protect our rights to live in a healthy and safe environment," one young activists said.
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Days before national delegates gather for the fourth and penultimate negotiations to develop a Global Plastics Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, around 500 Indigenous and community representatives, members of civil society and environmental groups, and experts and scientists gathered for a "March to End the Plastic Era" on Sunday.
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Break Free From Plastic called the negotiations a "make or break" moment for the treaty, which is supposed to be completed in late 2024 in Busan, South Korean. However, civil society groups have expressed concern that oil-producing countries and the plastics industry will water down the agreement and steer it toward waste management and recycling, which has been revealed to be a false solution to plastic pollution knowingly promoted by the industry for decades.
The last round of negotiations concluded in late 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya, with little progress made after 143 fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists attended.
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(Photo: Break Free From Plastics)
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Palestinian civil defense discovered hundreds of bodies buried by Israeli forces in a mass grave inside the complex of Khan Younis' Nasser Medical Complex on Saturday.
Rescue workers said they had removed at least 200 bodies as of 12:00 pm local time on Sunday, and they estimated that at least another 200 remained, Middle East Eye reported.
"We found corpses without heads, bodies without skins, and some had their organs stolen," the director-general of the Government Media Office said in a statement shared by Quds News Network.
"Following the mass graves at Al-Shifa hospital, it looks like Israel is a voracious death machine turning hospitals in Gaza into graveyards."
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew from Khan Younis on April 7. While they occupied the city, they stormed the Nasser Medical Complex in February, arresting several doctors, damaging the structure with shelling, and rendering it unable to function as a hospital.
Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud said the bodies found in the Nasser grave included children, young men, and older women. Rescues said that some of the bodies they found had been buried with their hands tied behind their backs, according to Middle East Eye.
"Our teams continue their search and retrieval operations for the remaining martyrs in the coming days as there are still a significant number of them," Palestinian emergency services said in a statement shared with Al Jazeera.
The news came as the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Saturday to send another $26 billion to Israel, including for military aid.
"These mass graves are obvious evidence of genocide and the most unthinkable war crimes. And yet, the House just signed off on $26 billion in weapons to fuel the genocidal Israeli military, while Israel threatens a full scale ground invasion to massacre Palestinians in Rafah," the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights said on social media.
This is not the first mass grave that has been discovered near a Gaza Strip hospital since Israel began its devastating bombardment and invasion following Hamas' deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel. When the IDF withdrew from the al-Shifa hospital earlier this month, Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat reported seeing hundreds of dead bodies outside the hospital, many that had had their hands and legs bound and their bodies run-over by bulldozers. Al Jazeera reported that several mass graves were found near al-Shifa.
"Following the mass graves at Al-Shifa hospital, it looks like Israel is a voracious death machine turning hospitals in Gaza into graveyards. Wake up world!" Palestinian politician and activist Hanan Ashrawi wrote on social media.
Muhammad Shehada, the communications chief for Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, expressed shock that there was not more media coverage of the Nasser grave.
"I CANNOT find a single headline in any mainstream media about this!" Shehada wrote on social media. "Imagine it was Ukraine? or Israel?"
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Nearly 40 House Democrats voted against a measure to send around $26 billion more to Israel as it continues its war on Gaza that human rights experts have deemed a genocide.
While the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act passed the Republican-led House by a vote of 366-58, party insiders said it was significant that such a large number of Democrats had opposed it, with more centrist lawmakers joining progressives who have called for a cease-fire since October.
"Despite the weapons aid package passing, this is the largest number of Democratic lawmakers to vote against unrestricted weapons aid for Israel in recent memory," senior Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid observed on social media.
"If Congress votes to continue to supply offensive military aid, we make ourselves complicit in this tragedy."
Human rights lawyer, lobbyist, and former Democratic National Committee committeewoman Yasmine Taeb posted that it was "incredibly significant that 37 Democrats voted NO and rejected AIPAC's role and influence in the party."
Senior Democrats who opposed the funding included Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.)
The bill earmarks around $4 billion for Israel's missile defense systems and more than $9 billion for humanitarian aid to Gaza, according toThe Associated Press. However, while lawmakers approved of individual expenditures, they balked at giving more unconditional military aid to the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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"This is a moment of great consequence—the world is watching," the lawmakers wrote. "Today is, in many ways, Congress' first official vote where we can weigh in on the direction of this war. If Congress votes to continue to supply offensive military aid, we make ourselves complicit in this tragedy."
The lawmakers clarified that their no votes were specifically "votes against supplying more offensive weapons that could result in more killings of civilians in Rafah and elsewhere."
While they acknowledged that Israel had a right to defend itself, they argued that its greatest security would come from a cease-fire that enabled the release of hostages, humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, and peace negotiations to begin in earnest.
"Most Americans do not want our government to write a blank check to further Prime Minister Netanyahu's war in Gaza," they concluded. "The United States needs to help Israel find a path to win the peace."
Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who also voted no, said that he "could not in good conscience vote for more offensive weapons to be given to Israel to be used in Gaza without any conditions attached."
Pocan further called the "devastation inflicted upon innocent civilians in Gaza" "unjustifiable" and argued that "further arming Netanyahu and his extreme coalition could only lead us to a wider conflict in the Middle East."
In a speech on the House floor, Lee also criticized the bill for failing to restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which provides the bulk of aid to the Gaza Strip. The U.S. paused funds for the agency following Israeli allegations that 12 of its employees participated in Hamas' October 7 attack, but other nations have since restored funding as the veracity of these allegations has been called into question.
"This is a grave abdication of U.S. humanitarian obligations," Lee said. "It is simply nonsensical to provide badly needed humanitarian assistance while simultaneously funding weapons that will be used to make the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worse."
She added, "The United States taxpayers should not be funding unconditional military weapons to a conflict that has created a catastrophic humanitarian disaster."
The bill sending funds to Israel was only one of several measures passed on Saturday as part of a $95 billion foreign spending package that will also provide a long-delayed approximately $61 billion for Ukraine in its war with Russia and around $8 billion to counter China in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Among the bills passed Saturday was one banning popular social media app TikTok in the U.S. if the Chinese company that owns it refuses to sell, theAP reported further.
The package will now go to the U.S. Senate, which could pass it as early as Tuesday. President Joe Biden has promised to sign the measures as soon as he receives them.
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