New York City mayor urges coal divestment

OREANDA-NEWS. September 30, 2015. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio (D) has proposed that the city's five public pension funds divest from coal.

De Blasio said today that he will meet with the pension boards "over the coming months" to hammer out specifics of the plan, including how to reinvest the freed-up assets. The funds have more than \\$160bn in assets covering more than 700,000 current and former city employees. At least \\$33mn of city pension funds are invested in companies with interests in thermal coal.

De Blasio joins some universities and local and state governments in trying to move away from coal investments. Earlier this month, the California state Assembly approved a bill to require that by July 2017 the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System fully exit investments in companies that receive more than half of their revenue from steam coal mining.

De Blasio's pension office conducted a study that determined that divestment poses "little financial risk … especially given the federal Environmental Protection Agency's [EPA] new clean Power Plan rules and increased regulatory limitations on emissions, which help reduce the attractiveness of thermal coal as an investment."

The mayor has set a goal of reducing the city's emissions by 80pc over the next 35 years. His administration recently put forth a plan to generate 100pc of city government power from renewables.

New York state relies on coal-fired plants for 2.4pc of its electricity, according to the US Energy Information Association. It is not clear how much of that power flows to New York City.

"Divesting from coal reflects both our emissions-reduction and clean-air goals," said Nilda Mesa, director of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability. "Ozone that drifts to New York City from coal-powered plants is a major source of smog, which affects our most vulnerable populations, such as seniors and others who have respiratory diseases. We should be investing in energy sources that lower greenhouse gas emissions, as well as make our air cleaner."

The plan has the support of a number of city council members, unions, environmental groups, the city's comptroller and the regional EPA administrator.