Message from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
The Global Climate Action Summit just took place, as you may know, in San Francisco. Here is a brief take-away from the mayor of New York City:
"I just left the stage at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco and I'll tell you what I told thousands of advocates and leaders there: If we're going to turn the tide on climate change, we must leverage our investments away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. We must act. All of us. Together. Now.
Earlier this year, New York became the first U.S. city to commit to divesting our pension funds from fossil fuels.
We did this because it was necessary in order to move our city towards a sustainable future - and because the people demanded it. People just like you relentlessly pushed and encouraged decision makers like me and our other pension fund stakeholders.
That's how change happens. Elected officials need to hear from constituents and climate activists like you passionately and persistently urging us to do the right thing. Call on your Mayor in your city or town to step up and commit to bold climate measures today Just imagine the energy revolution such an investment could spur.
Thanks to the climate divestment movement, other cities are also now joining together to advance fossil fuel divestment. Those cities include London, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Paris, San Jose, and Oslo. This is a big deal. And it's because of climate activists like you."
- Mayor Bill de Blasio, NY City
My own personal note
to add to this: I was inspired by the POP news article that summarized POP's sustainable banking talk. I ended up investing a large portion of my savings in that bank (now part of Amalgamated Bank) and I put the rest into a social justice acting credit union. I can not express how great those actions continue to make me feel. I received a healthy energizing release of great discomfort. I was so accustomed to that discomfort, I had barely realized its cause. But it clearly was there, in my very cells it seems, all the while that my savings were working for planet destroying corporations in a big, mainstream, harmfully - investing bank!
As Mayor ce Blasio concluded:
"Together, we can invest in a safer, more sustainable world for all."
Shirley Lutzky
