SALEM, Ore. — The state of Oregon should divest from the fossil fuels industry to protect both the environment and its investments, three Oregon lawmakers said Wednesday as a new study put the level of that investment at $1.8 billion or more.
“The Oregon Treasury, which manages $130 billion of the state’s investment portfolio, is invested in oil, gas, and coal companies responsible for our climate emergency,” Reps. Khanh Pham, Paul Holvey and Jeff Golden said in a column published in The Oregonian/OregonLive, the state’s largest newspaper.
The three Democratic lawmakers announced that they will introduce a bill in the 2022 legislative session, which begins Feb. 1, “to disclose Oregon’s fossil fuel holdings so the public can clearly understand our state’s financial and climate risks.”
The burning of fossil fuels like coal and gas emits gases that are a leading cause of global warming and climate change. Oregon has been suffering the effects of climate change, with wildfires getting worse, a record-breaking heat wave last summer that killed more than 100 people, and a severe drought affecting much of the state.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read, in an interview last summer with Oregon Public Radio, wouldn’t be pinned down on the amount of the state’s fossil fuel investments.
“It’s not just public equities, it’s also private equity, it’s also bonds,” said Read, a Democrat who’s running for governor in the 2022 election. “So we’re selling and buying bonds literally every day. So it changes.”
A group called the Climate Safe Pensions Network said in a report released Wednesday that the Oregon state employee pension fund’s investment in fossil fuels was at least $1.77 billion, including investments with Exxon Mobile, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Marathon Petroleum. The figure is partial “due to delays in disclosure by the pension fund,” the report said.
The Climate Safe Pensions Network describes itself as a network of pension divestment and shareholder advocacy campaigns, coordinated and supported by Stand.earth.
“The fastest way for pensions to address climate change is to divest fossil fuel holdings and invest in just and equitable climate solutions,” said Amy Gray, Stand.earth’s senior climate finance strategist.
