Our movement reached a big milestone today when Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon introduced the first ever fossil fuel divestment bill in the US Senate! The Retirement Investments for a Sustainable Economy (RISE) Act would provide a fossil free retirement option for all federal employees. It also instructs the Government Accountability Office to study the risks fossil fuel investments pose to employee retirement accounts and instructs the office to provide a divestment mechanism if those risks are shown to be substantial (hint: they are). Here’s a one pager with more info on the bill. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) “As climate chaos ramps up, all Americans deserve the option to divest from the fossil fuel industry,” said Senator Merkley. “For the first time, this bill will give millions of federal employees the power to ensure their retirement funds are invested in a more sustainable, socially responsible investment portfolio.” “This bill is a big step forward in our efforts to break the fossil fuel industry’s stranglehold on Washington,” said 350.org executive director May Boeve. “As we build a fossil-free world that works for all, the RISE Act would begin the process of divesting federal pensions from fossil fuel corporations and protect […]
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