September 30, 2020

350 CO & Fossil Free PERA Launch Video from Impacted Coloradans, Call on PERA to Divest from Fossil Fuels.

350 Colorado and the Fossil Free PERA campaign teamed up with allies in Canada to call out harmful fossil fuel investments made by both Colorado and Canadian pension funds that are directly and adversely impacting Colorado communities Join the international pension divestment movement and call on Colorado's state pension fund, Public Employees Retirement Association - PERA - to divest from fossil fuels.

Across the nation and internationally, people are organizing to call out pension funds for their harmful investments in the fossil fuel industry — an industry which is not only destroying our planet, but is also increasingly shown to be a bad financial investment. This past week 350 Colorado and the Fossil Free PERA campaign teamed up with allies in Canada to call out harmful fossil fuel investments made by both Colorado and Canadian pension funds that are directly and adversely impacting Colorado communities. In September, the Boulder Weekly published an article highlighting this bi-national collaboration. While Canada’s pension plan, CPPIB, invests Canadian pension savings to finance Colorado’s Crestone Peak Resources fracking company, Colorado’s pension plan, PERA, is investing Coloradans’ public money in problematic fossil fuel companies such as Suncor and Extraction Oil and Gas, both under scrutiny for harming local communities through dangerous pollution violations, particularly near lower income communities and communities of color.

To highlight the negative impacts of these investments, 350 CO and Fossil Free PERA launched a video from impacted Coloradans to PERA members. You can watch the video and share here. 

Across the state, concerned residents are calling on PERA Board members, leadership and staff to curb fossil fuel investments that are harming public health and fueling the climate crisis. In addition to harming our communities, evidence is increasingly showing that fossil fuels are a bad investment. In 2020 alone, there have been 44 bankruptcy filings by the US oil and gas sector, totaling $55 billion in debt. Colorado ranks the 5th highest state in the US for the number of bankruptcy filings by the oil and gas industry since 2015. In fact, a 2019 study shows that PERA lost $1.77B by not divesting from fossil fuels 10 years ago. 

Please join us in calling on PERA to begin the process of divesting from fossil fuels and to proactively plan for the energy transition to renewable energy. They need to hear loud and clear that we do not want our public money to be invested in companies which are adversely impacting our public health and safety. 

Here’s how you can take action now:

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