Bill de Blasio: This Is Why New York Is Suing and Divesting from Big Oil

California, Federal Litigation, Funding/Financing/Investing, New York, Opinions, Policy

January 14, 2018

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by Bill de Blasio (New York City Mayor/Washington Post) … America’s largest city, 8.5 million strong, is taking decisive action on two separate fronts. We are demanding compensation from those who profit from climate change. And we plan to withdraw our formidable investment portfolio from an economic system that is harmful to our people, our property and the city we love and invest it in more productive ways.

This week, the City of New York filed a lawsuit in federal court against the five investor-owned fossil fuel companies: Exxon, BP, ConocoPhillips, Shell and Chevron. We are seeking billions of dollars in damages from these giants because they are central actors in this crisis. We’re proud to join cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Cruz in taking on Big Oil in court.

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Today, we are saying, “No more.” The time is long past due for Big Oil to pay the bill and take full responsibility for the devastation they have wrought. That by itself will be a major step forward, but it isn’t enough. We know we have more to do. We are going to stop investing in the fuel of yesterday, so we can have a better tomorrow.

The City of New York, its pension funds and the entities that control those funds are working to agree to divest from approximately 190 companies that own fossil fuel reserves. In total, the sum of investments we intend to divest adds up to around $5 billion. No other large city and no other state in this union has taken this action yet. We will be the first, but we hope we aren’t the last. And I want to be clear about something: There is no contradiction between making wise investments for our people and our pensioners and protecting the planet they live on.

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We will reduce the emissions our city produces by 80 percent by 2050. READ MORE

New York City sues Shell, ExxonMobil and other oil companies over climate change (Washington Post)

NEW YORK CITY LOVES BIODIESEL (Iowa Soybean Association)

Biodiesel Takes a Bite Out of the Big Apple’s Carbon Emissions (National Biodiesel Board)

Advanced BioFuels USA