MAY 25: California fossil fuel divestment bill heads to full Senate floor vote

By Fossil Free California | May 24, 2023

MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
May 24, 2023 
Contact: Shana DeClercq | shana@fossilfreeca.org | (415) 376-3746

After passing Senate Appropriations,
SB252 is the “climate bill that could.” 
Tremendous momentum for California, the world’s sixth largest economy, to lead on climate, economic, and fiduciary responsibility.

WHAT: SB 252 (CalPERS & CalSTRS fossil fuel divestment bill) full Senate floor vote

WHEN & WHERE: May 25, 2023. Floor session begins at 9:30am. Senate Agenda Item #177. Livestream available at https://www.senate.ca.gov/ while Senate is in session.

WHO: 140+ groups, 4 Senate co-sponsors, and unions representing over 470,000 workers.

Spokespeople are available for on-record interviews, including:

  • Miguel Alatorre, Fossil Free California, Campaigns Organizer 
  • Miriam Eide, Fossil Free California, Coordinating Director 
  • Youth divestment spokesperson, Youth vs. Apocalypse
  • Teacher, Oakland Unified School District, CalSTRS member
  • Carlos Davidson, San Francisco State University, CalSTRS member
  • Additional CalPERS and CalSTRS members and beneficiaries

WHY: Californians are facing climate whiplash – trying to navigate lives, jobs, and families, mopping up from record-breaking flooding (estimated at $30 billion in damages in 2023 so far) following decades of drought, and girding for the ever-lengthening wildfire season. For California’s teachers, workers, and retirees, climate chaos isn’t a someday problem, it’s a right-now crisis. 

The IPCC urgently warns that “there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all,” with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stating, “new funding for fossil fuel exploration and production infrastructure is delusional. 

Yet CalPERS and CalSTRS – the two largest public pension funds in the U.S. – continue to collectively finance fossil fuels to the tune of over $14 billion. California, the world’s sixth largest economy and holder of the nation’s two largest public pensions – CalPERS and CalSTRS – is poised to lead the financial sector into a new era of financial prudence and risk-managed growth by divesting the funds of their toxic fossil fuel holdings.

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