IEEFA Echoes Governor Cuomo’s Call to Divest NY State Pension Fund to Improve Returns
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for an “end to any investment in fossil fuel related activities in the pension fund” during his January 3, 2018 State of the State address. In an op-ed for the Albany Times Union, Tom Sanzillo, the director of finance for the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and former state first deputy comptroller, echoed this call, emphasizing its fiscal responsibility.
Sanzillo encouraged the pension fund to go beyond the practice of only investing in growing renewable technology opportunities, and to divest from poorly performing oil stocks, which have hurt the fund’s returns over the past five years, a trend that IEEFA projects will continue. He also noted that that the actions of the fund “don’t match the urgency of the climate crisis or the new financial reality of energy stocks.”
Related Links:
The Albany Times Union: “Cuomo is Right on Fossil Fuel Divestment” (January 4, 2018)
IEEFA.org, The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis