From NO GAS: Support County divestment from fossil fuels NOW for Tues. 12/10 – Resolution on Socially Responsible Investing
The County Board of Supervisors will be voting on a Resolution regarding Socially Responsible Investing, this coming Tuesday, December 10 – including rethinking their investments in fossil fuels. Please urge them to support the Resolution but also let them know that it doesn’t go far enough!
While the Coalition has so far been focusing mainly on opposition to new gas stations, and thinking about a potential moratorium on new gas stations, this action by the Supervisors is directly relevant, another angle on the same issue, with potentially far-reaching impacts.
The wording of the Resolution is below. As you’ll see, it is partly about investments in inhumane detention camps at the border, and partly about investments in fossil fuels in the light of the climate crisis and following the County’s Climate Emergency Resolution passed on September 17.
It’s been pointed out to me that while this Resolution is a welcome step forward, it doesn’t go far enough. It refers only to investments in Wells Fargo and BNP-Paribas, only to new or renewed investments, and “requests that the County Treasurer make no new or renewed investments in fossil fuel development corporations to the extent that other, more socially responsible investments achieve substantially equivalent safety, liquidity, and yield.” In other words, it’s okay to divest from the destruction of the planet (and the inhuman treatment of human beings, too), as long as it doesn’t affect your profit margin!
So, while it’s welcome, it should go further, requiring divestment from fossil fuels (and detention centers, too!) more broadly.
The meeting will be on Tuesday, December 10, at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 575 Administration Drive, 102A.
The meeting starts at 8:30 am but this is # 27 on the agenda, so I have no idea what time that may be!
For details and agenda see: https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
To email the Board of Supervisors:
Susan Gorin, 1st District: Susan.Gorin@sonoma-county.org
David Rabbitt, 2nd District: David.Rabbitt@sonoma-county.org
Shirley Zane, 3rd District: Shirlee.Zane@sonoma-county.org
James Gore, 4th District: James.Gore@sonoma-county.org
Lynda Hopkins, 5th District: Lynda.Hopkins@sonoma-county.org
and the relevant staff person is:
Sheryl Bratton, County Administrator’s Office: sheryl.bratton@sonoma-county.org
I hope we can encourage the Supes to do the right thing!
Jenny