Choose to be on the right side of the climate change fight and the right side of history. Demand that CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, divest from fossil fuels by signing this petition.

What are the financial reasons for CalSTRS to divest from fossil fuels? 

When it comes to fossil fuel divestment, which may come off as radical to some, you may be asking yourself, is it plausible for this money to be divested from such a large and powerful industry? The answer is yes! More than 1,000 institutions around the world have committed to divest, including universities, faith-based organizations, non-profits, municipalities, philanthropic organizations, and national and state pension funds, controlling $14.48 trillion in assets. It's not a stretch to think that CalSTRS could be the next to do so. In California, cities like Berkley, San Luis Obispo, San Jose, Santa Monica, and San Francisco have already fully divested from fossil fuels. The City of San Francisco, for example, had the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution urging the managers of the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System to divest their funds in 2018; and the Board of Supervisors divested from five major oil companies. They have even approved a plan to work with CalSTRS. San Francisco's goal is remarkably similar to ours and proves that it is not an overly ambitious endeavor. Not to mention that the University of California has also fully divested from all fossil fuels, making it the nation's largest educational institution to do so. Keep in mind that these examples are only from California, but the extent of divestment efforts are much more widespread than that. 

Teachers contribute about 10 percent of their salary and other creditable compensation toward their pension. These funds, along with payroll contributions from employers and from the State of California, are invested by CalSTRS to provide the pension benefit upon retirement. CalSTRS lost over $1.63B in its Fossil Fuel holdings between July 2019 and June 2020. Furthermore, according to a Corporate Knights report done before the COVID-19 crash, CalSTRS would have made $5.5 billion more if they had divested ten years ago. They currently continue to lose money. CalSTRS should be divesting their money from fossil fuels and redirecting that money towards renewable energy. It has been proven that funds that exclude fossil fuels are increasingly outperforming those that still invest in fossil fuels. Not only will divestment help CalSTRS financially, but it will also help them invest in a sustainable future.  

In lieu of investing in nonrenewable energy sources, CalSTRS should invest in clean, renewable energy. Investment in clean energy is less likely to fluctuate and, in the long term, will yield better profits. According to Forbes Magazine, renewable energy stocks were "less volatile across the board than fossil fuels, with such portfolios holding up well during the turmoil caused by the pandemic, while oil and gas collapsed." The website Renewable Energy World also stated that the fossil fuel industry management over the last decade has made the energy sector the worst-performing part of the S&P500. Even UC's chief investment officers, Sherman and Jagdeep Singh Bachher, said that they're "betting" they can make money for the University of California without fossil fuel investment. All of this then means that in the future, if CalSTRS divests from fossil fuels, it definitely possible for them to keep incrementing their portfolio value without relying on fossil fuels, especially as Bachher notes that they pose an "unacceptable financial risk," particularly with "geopolitical tensions and likely, a bumpy and slow global financial recovery in a post-pandemic world."

Click here to check the support we have from our students to have CalSTRS divest from fossil fuels.