RESOLUTION:
Responsible Investment and Fossil Fuel Divestment
WHEREAS:
Ninety-seven percent of respected climate scientists find conclusive evidence
that climate change is real, serious, and caused by humans. Therefore, it is both
reasonable and imperative that AFSCME Council 75 act to avoid climate risks; and
WHEREAS:
The climate crisis is a serious threat to future generations in Oregon and around
the world; and
WHEREAS:
Climate change is causing extreme weather – more wildfires, droughts, and
flooding from heavy storms and rainfall. Air quality is deteriorating, water supplies are
strained, and rapid species extinction is occurring. Sea-level rise threatens buildings
and infrastructure, and warmer, more acidic oceans are reducing fish stocks. Droughtstricken agricultural regions mean less crop and livestock production and rising food
costs. Warming temperatures are causing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.
These effects of climate change are taking a heavy toll on human health. Continued
warming may trigger abrupt and irreversible changes; and
WHEREAS:
The United States Environmental Protection Agency, in its Guide to Climate
Impacts in the Northwest1, projects that increased warming will threaten the
environmental and economic health of the Northwest, through decreased mountain
snowpacks and the subsequent lower river flows that provide water, through the loss of
our prized salmon, and through increasing wildfires that threaten our forests and our
timber industry; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME Council 75 workers respond to public health risks like the spread of
infectious diseases and extreme weather events, such as forest fires and flooding.
AFSCME Council 75 workers are charged with overseeing increasingly scarce natural
resources and protecting human health and the environment through the regulation and
enforcement of laws meant to prevent, minimize, and limit pollution; and
WHEREAS:
1
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/northwest.html
Responsible investments are those that support a sustainable future. AFSCME
Council 75 wants a future where all citizens have the chance to live healthy lives free
from the ecological and economic threats associated with extreme climate changes.
Because the economic costs of climate change are predicted to be as high as 20
percent of annual global gross domestic product, responsible investments should
exclude fossil fuel companies which contribute the most to these impacts; and
WHEREAS:
For the purposes of this resolution, a “Fossil Fuel Company” shall be defined as
any of the two hundred publicly-traded companies with the largest coal, oil, and gas
reserves as measured by the gigatons of carbon dioxide that would be emitted if those
reserves were extracted and burned, as listed in the Carbon Tracker Initiative’s
“Unburnable Carbon” report2; and
WHEREAS:
Governments worldwide are increasingly regulating carbon emissions making
fossil fuel assets riskier long-term investments.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
AFSCME Council 75 fully supports and is encouraged by the Oregon Investment
Council’s addition of Environmental, Social and Governance language to its investment
beliefs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME Council 75 urges the State of Oregon and the Oregon Public Employee
Retirement System to expand investment options for AFSCME Council 75 workers
beyond those currently available in order to include deferred compensation plans that
are divested from holdings in the Fossil Fuel Companies; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME Council 75 urges the State of Oregon and the Oregon Public Employee
Retirement System (PERS) to develop and implement a plan for the complete
divestment of its holdings from Fossil Fuel Companies; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME Council 75 will continue to partner with environmental groups and
community organizations and other public sector unions to promote fossil fuel
divestment.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
2
http://www.carbontracker.org/report/carbon-bubble/
AFSCME Council 75 will support locals working on climate change divestment
issues. These activities shall include, but are not limited to, providing legislative
assistance, assisting in access to elected officials, and publicly acknowledging the
health, environmental, economic and social justice benefits of fossil fuel divestment.
Submitted by:
____________________________
Karen Williams, President
AFSCME Local 3336
____________________________
Eric Feeley, Secretary
AFSCME Local 3336