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DiNapoli cool on fossil fuel divestment
Jan 13, 2018 12:10 am
Matthew Hamilton reports in the Albany Times Union that State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli pushed the brakes a bit on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's call to divest the state pension fund from fossil fuels. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his State of the State speech last week, urged DiNapoli to divest the $192.4 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund from fossil fuels. "I understand what's behind the divestment movement, and I'm very sympathetic to it," DiNapoli said Jan. 9. "We believe climate change is real, climate risk is an issue that the pension fund should deal with. We have been dealing with it. But just divesting I don't think is going to put any of these companies out of business." He said the fund's financial health is more important than Cuomo's strong-arming. "I'm an independently elected official," he said. "I have a particular independence when it comes to managing the pension fund, and that will not be compromised." Read the full story in the Albany Times Union.