The Chief Leader
MARK TOOR
Five public-employee unions have endorsed an online petition opposing plans by Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to force public-pension funds to get rid of their investments in fossil fuels.
More than 13,000 people had signed it by the middle of last week.
Fighting Climate Change
The divestment plans, announced at the beginning of the year, are aimed at fighting climate change, which is fueled by the burning of coal, gas and oil.
A recent report commissioned by the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees, one of the unions supporting the petition, found that the state’s Common Retirement Fund would lose more than $300 million over five years if forced to divest from fossil fuels, which earn around an 8-percent annual return, and replace them with “green” investments that return 3 percent to 5 percent.
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