With the nation’s attention on the pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout, the fossil fuel industry is taking every opportunity to profit from disaster. They’ve lobbied for the EPA to loosen regulations and pushed forward pipelines like Keystone XL. And now they’re lobbying to ensure that coal, oil and gas companies receive a significant portion of the bailout funds meant for small businesses. They also want $3 billion that could go to COVID-19 relief to be used to purchase oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It is critical that we push back. Please join a nationwide effort to email Congress and demand that they oppose all efforts to bail out the fossil fuel industry. You can find your representatives here. What to do: Call NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli at 518-474-4044 and urge him to divest the State Pension fund from fossil fuels. You can also tweet him at @TomDiNapoli or @NYSComptroller. Phone Script: Please divest the NYS pension fund from fossil fuels. It is wrong to invest in companies that are destroying the planet and it is a risky financial investment. The state lost $500 million alone in its investment in Exxon last year. It is time to divest. Sample Tweet: New York State has about $13 BILLION invested in fossil fuels. @NYSComptroller DiNapoli refuses to #DivestNY, no matter how many billions of dollars he loses. Call @TomDiNapoli at 518 474 4044. Divest now and save lives. Thanks to Leslie Cagan at Peoples Climate Movement New York for sharing this message with us! Photo credit: Food and Water Watch |