divest

Want promising news? Look to batteries.

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:48:35 GMT

At the March 2026 OIC meeting, John Goldstein from Goldman Sachs spoke of the strength of renewable energy stocks (recap in Net Zero Investor 5/3/2026 ).

Bill McKibben shows us how the sector is evolving with battery technology advances. Night into Day ( The Crucial Years substack 3/30/2026):

“For the first time, the United States now has the capacity to supply 100% of domestic energy storage project demand with American-built systems,” said Noah Roberts, executive director of the U.S. Energy Storage Coalition. “That is a fundamental shift from where we were just a year and a half ago, when the majority of battery storage systems were imported.”
“Already, the U.S. has enough capacity to meet demand for finished grid battery enclosures…. By the end of this year, the U.S. will also achieve self-sufficiency in a higher-value part of the supply chain: the battery cells themselves. It’s a major industrial coup that is bringing thousands of high-tech manufacturing jobs to communities across the country.”
Solid-state batteries are becoming a possibility; they promise to solve several problems:
“Batteries are now being tested by multiple companies that can go 800 miles on a single charge….“In September, Mercedes drove a modified EQS over 1,200 km (745 miles) using 106 Ah solid-state battery cells supplied by US-based Factorial Energy. Factorial launched the first commercial solid-state battery program in the US …earlier this year.”
The Finnish company Donut Labs shows where this is heading: “The Donut batt can charge to full in five minutes…; has a practically unlimited lifespan (100,000 charging cycles); is unaffected by heat and cold (-30C to 100C); and contains no rare earth, precious metals or flammable liquid electrolytes. With all that, Donut Lab says it will be cheaper to produce than conventional lithium-ion batteries…”
“And the technological miracles are only beginning. For instance, Christopher Mims reported last week in the Journal on a new round of ‘thermal batteries that store solar power as heat instead of electricity, perfect for use in high-temperature industrial processes.’”
“Marija Maisch was reporting in January that…salt-based batteries are nearing price and performance parity, if not for cars then for utility scale batteries.”
And this chart shows the surge of batteries coming online as solar installations lose sunlight. Night into day.

As John Goldstein from Goldman Sachs suggested, renewable energy is a promising investment for the future. Oregon Treasury should increase the amount and pace of climate positive investments to capture these opportunities.

Why is the Treasury still investing workers’ retirement in fossil fuels, ICE contractors, and surveillance technology?

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 22:07:07 GMT

A question from Divest Oregon, a coalition of a hundred organizations with strong PERS representation, remains unanswered: What screening process does the Oregon State Treasury (OST) use, if any, when investing PERS funds or choosing investment managers?

Is the Treasury screening investments in fossil fuel companies?

Andrew Bogrand, Divest Oregon’s Communications Director, spoke at the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) in January 2026. He noted that investment in fossil fuels contributes to global instability, using Venezuela as an example. (See this blog .) The current Iran war emphasizes this point. Andrew regularly comments on the ties between insecurity and fossil fuels as a policy lead for human rights and natural resource justice at Oxfam.

The argument that fossil fuel investments are a sensible diversification of a portfolio has long been outdated. But looking at the most recently published June 2025 public equity and fixed income data, the Treasury is still investing in fossil fuels. Under fiduciary duty and the Climate Resilience Investment Act ( CRIA ), the Treasury must move to alternative investments that align with the reality of climate change and a rapidly destabilizing world.

Is the Treasury screening investments prone to legal liability, human rights abuses, or reputational risk?

In an April 2023 report , Divest Oregon called out the Treasury's investment in private prisons and surveillance technology as context for the question: Does the Treasury have a screening process? If so, what is the screening process? One example given in that report was the NSO/spyware technology that OST heavily invested in. The Guardian reported extensively (2022) on the OST’s investment in NSO/Pegasus spyware: “However, it now appears that the Oregon pension fund, one of the most prominent in the US, gave its tacit approval over an investment in NSO several years ago – at a time when security researchers were already publicly raising alarms about the company.”

In a more recent report, Oregon Treasury’s Investment Screening Failures ( October 2025 ), Divest Oregon again questioned the Treasury’s investment screening process. Examples of questionable investments included GEO Group, CoreCivic, and Palantir.

Investments in GEO Group and CoreCivic fund private prison contractors and ICE detention centers. Investment in Palantir funds ICE surveillance software used against US residents. See additional information below for each of these companies.

The most recent public data ( June 2025 ) shows that the Treasury continues to invest in these private prison and surveillance technology companies with a long history of human rights abuses and legal vulnerability. These companies are central to the current federal administration’s construction of a police state and its massive violation of due process. See Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign ( The New Yorker 3/15/2026).

For example:

Recent private prison contractor GEO Group news:

In February 2026, the Supreme Court found that GEO Group, a private prison operator running an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, cannot claim governmental immunity from lawsuits for violating human trafficking laws, even if those violations were under government orders.

Recent surveillance technology company Palantir news:

In Portland, now, Palantir’s Elite app is being used to identify potential deportation targets, generate dossiers on individuals and provide a “confidence score” on the person’s address. ( The Guardian 3/13/2026)

Why should the Treasury screen its investments?

Screening is necessary to avoid investments that contravene Treasury standards, OIC policy, legal standards including fiduciary duty, or Oregon State law. For instance:

The Oregon Department of Justice has recently opened an inquiry as to whether OST investment in companies with contractual ties to ICE violates the Oregon Sanctuary Promise Act of 2021 .
The CRIA Act of 2025 mandates that the Treasury:

-- “actively analyze and manage” climate risk to the portfolio

-- report on its progress toward investing in public equity holdings that incorporate

the tenets of a just transition in their overall priorities and portfolio

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Public employee unions react to private prison investments

AFT Private Prisons, Immigrant Detention and Investment Risks (2018); Private Prisons and Investment Risks (2020)

Since 2018, AFT (American Federation of Teachers) has highlighted the investment risks to pension funds whose portfolios contain exposure to the private prison industry or contractors who provide services to immigration detention centers. AFT has researched the top publicly traded companies profiting from the detainment of separated families or the incarceration of mass numbers of people in private prisons – and the public pension funds investing in them.

SEIU’s Verrett Condemns House Vote, Urges Senate to Reject Immigrant Incarceration Bill (SEIU 1/8/2025)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUYQbFhmAUS/?igsh=eHc0a2tibmxobW0x (2/5/2026)

AFSCME fights back as private prison corporation asks Supreme Court for a shield from accountability (AFSCME 9/23/2025)

National press coverage on private prison/immigrant detention contractors GEO Group and CoreCivic

A Private Prison Loses its Immunity Shield ( The Lever 3/7/2026)

The Supreme Court unanimously found that GEO Group, a private prison operator running an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, cannot claim governmental immunity from lawsuits for violating human trafficking laws, even if those violations were under government orders. The lawsuit, filed in 2014 , accused GEO Group of forcing immigrants in a Colorado detention center to work, sometimes without pay. The detainees alleged that if they refused, GEO threatened them with solitary confinement .

Sick Detainees Describe Poor Care at Facilities Run by ICE Contractor : Problems at detention centers operated by CoreCivic extend far beyond recent measles outbreaks. ( New York Times 2/14/2026)

As ICE Buys Up Warehouses, Even Some Trump Voters Say No ( New York Times 2/18/2026)

Priests say ICE contractor GEO rejected shareholder vote on human rights review (Reuters 2/9/2026)

GEO Group Stock Tanks as Detention Horrors Surface : Shares sink below $19 after scathing reports of abuse and neglect at ICE’s Alexandria deportation hub shake investor confidence. ( Migrant Insider 10/16/2025)

Ninth Circuit affirms for-profit operator of Northwest ICE Processing Center violated labor law ( Washington State Office of the Attorney General 1/16/2025)

“Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with Attorney General Nick Brown, affirming decisions by a lower court and a jury that found the for-profit operator of the Northwest ICE Processing Center exploited detainee workers and unjustly enriched itself through unlawful labor practices.”

Controversial ICE Contract Awarded to GEO Group Raises Questions and Sparks Outrage ( CSI Market 3/12/2024)

"The immigration detention system in the United States has come under intense scrutiny in recent years due to allegations of mistreatment and substandard conditions in ICE facilities. Reports of overcrowding, lack of access to medical care, and the separation of families have only added fuel to the already contentious debate around immigration policy. This contract raises questions about the government’s commitment to addressing these concerns and ensuring proper oversight and accountability for private companies involved in immigration enforcement.”

CoreCivic’s Decades of Abuse: Otay Mesa Detention Center (ACLU issue brief, April 2021)

National press coverage on use of Palantir in Oregon by ICE

ICE agents reveal daily arrest quotas and surveillance app in rare court testimony ( The Guardian 3/13/2026)

Many details about Elite’s functions and use by ICE remain unclear, but 404 Media, a tech news site, reported in January that the app was built by Palantir, the data analytics firm that has contracts with the DHS and the Department of Defense . Internal ICE materials reviewed by 404 Media suggested Elite populated a map with potential deportation targets, generated dossiers on individuals and provided a “confidence score” on the person’s address, the site reported. Citing a user guide, 404 Media said Elite was an acronym for “Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement” and the tool identified “high-value targets” and had a “geospatial lead sourcing tab” to map targets.

National press coverage on Palantir overall

DHS Opens a Billion-Dollar Tab With Palantir ( Wired 2/19/2026)

“The Department of Homeland Security struck a $1 billion purchasing agreement with Palantir last week, further reinforcing the software company’s role in the federal agency that oversees the nation’s immigration enforcement ….The agreement simplifies how DHS buys software from Palantir, allowing DHS agencies like Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to essentially skip the competitive bidding process for new purchases of up to $1 billion in products and services from the company.”

ICE using data and probability to decide where to detain and arrest people : Backed by $160 million in contracts, ICE’s dystopian tech enforcement architecture is straining long-standing legal boundaries ( BIOMETRIC UPDATE 1/16/2026)

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement (ELITE) tool is being used to identify ‘targets’ and to direct enforcement activity as part of a larger, heavily funded analytics ecosystem built by Palantir Technologies . The problem is that relying on probabilistic ‘confidence scores’ raises fundamental legal questions about warrants, probable cause, and the limits of lawful arrest authority.

Building on Oregon Treasury’s 2025 Progress toward Net Zero Emissions - Part 2

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 20:31:47 GMT

Part 2: Building on Oregon State Treasury’s 2025 Progress toward Net Zero Emissions

Divest Oregon applauds initial action, offers recommendations for future reporting, including the use of multiple metrics

To protect the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF) from the financial and climate risks of the energy transition, the Oregon State Treasury is one of the few state pension funds with a strategy and commitment to reducing emissions across its portfolio. As part of this commitment, Treasury recently published its “ 2025 Progress Report : Tracking Net Zero and Climate Positive Investment Strategies.” Divest Oregon, a grassroots coalition representing unions, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities, has previously applauded Treasury’s progress toward reducing its emissions and welcomes this report.

This progress reflects previous Treasurer Tobias Read’s commitment to Net Zero , the passage of the 2024 COAL Act and the 2025 Climate Resilience Investment Act ( CRIA ) as well as years of stakeholder, legislative, and coalition engagement (including with Divest Oregon).

Divest Oregon has reviewed the report in depth, carefully analyzed these findings (read our full analysis here ), and developed specific recommendations for future reporting from the Treasury.

Part 2 of Divest Oregon’s review is below. Part 1 can be found here .

Treasury Fails to Push for Credible Transition Plans of Private Investments

Treasury’s Net Zero Plan committed to a major action to “Use our leverage as limited partners to push for credible transition plans from private market investments that derive >20% revenue from carbon intensive fossil fuel activities.” (p21)

The Progress Report stated Treasury could not fulfill that commitment, saying that “Due to the proprietary nature of private market investments, OST does not have data to determine the percentage of portfolios that derive more than 20% of their revenue from fossil fuel activities.” (p18).

The Progress Report does not explain why Treasury would have made a commitment in the original Net Zero Plan that would be impossible to fulfill. There are other ways to determine which fossil fuel investment companies and funds should be pushed for credible transition plans that are explained in the Divest Oregon analysis.

Coal Investments

It is very encouraging that the OST reduced OPERF’s public equity thermal coal holdings from $28.9 million in 21 companies in 2024 to $15 million in 12 companies in 2025. Clearly the passage of the COAL Act , sponsored by Divest Oregon, has facilitated effective action to reduce OPERF’s public equity holdings in thermal coal.

Treasury does not explain if this was an intentional reduction in thermal coal holdings, following actual strategies and mandates to reduce the holdings, or if it is just the market moving away from poorly performing investments.

There is also little information about:

Whether remaining coal companies are transitioning to clean energy
When coal exposure will be fully phased out

And coal may still be present within private equity investments, where transparency is limited.

Engagement: Voting vs. Real Change

Treasury reports thousands of shareholder votes on environmental issues.

What’s missing:

Examples of successful outcomes
Evidence that engagement is changing company behavior
Clear consequences, such as divestment, when companies fail to improve

For companies with high climate risk and weak plans, voting against management may not meaningfully reduce the pension’s exposure.

A “Just Transition” Framework

The Net Zero Plan calls for attention to workers and communities affected by the energy transition — often called a just transition . The Treasury did not cover this topic in its report. It will need to report on progress in 2026 on the Just Transition principles spelled out under CRIA.

Action on just transition should include integration of workers' and human rights, including Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, in the Treasury’s investment strategies.

Systemic Risk

Public pension funds invest for decades into the future. Climate change creates two major risks for long-term investors:

Transition risk — whether companies can adapt as the economy shifts away from fossil fuels.
System-level risk — how broader economic damage from worsening climate impacts pose a substantial risk of reducing overall market returns.

Because OPERF is broadly diversified across the global economy, its long-term performance depends heavily on the health of the overall market. Economists estimate that unchecked climate change could reduce investment values by 30–40% or more over time — a serious threat to retirement security.

Treasury reports that it is working with other pension funds, Ceres (a nonprofit focused on a just transition to a clean energy future), and the Council of Institutional Investors. These alliances need to be strengthened. T he public pension funds in the United States collectively invest over $9.8 trillion . With a common goal to decarbonize their portfolios, they could greatly reduce the system-level risk of climate change.

Strategies for trustees fulfilling their fiduciary duty to address known substantial system-level climate risks to OPERF investment values are listed in Divest Oregon’s 2025 Climate Risk Review Executive Summary (pp. 24-25) and linked to detail in the full Climate Risk Review.

Building on Progress for Future CRIA Reports

Divest Oregon recommends several practical improvements for the next report mandated by the CRIA legislation and due at the end of 2026.

The Oregon State Treasury should:

Develop a dashboard that includes multiple climate emissions metrics, including financed emissions, and provide data quality scores for the calculated emissions metrics.

Include scope 3 emissions more prominently to fully reflect real portfolio emissions.

Demonstrate more transparency by clarifying private equity assumptions (including estimates or modeling to support inclusion or exclusion of the data), defining what is considered a climate-positive investment, and providing more specificity about fossil fuel investments.

Increase insights and ambition in implementing CRIA by: Explaining how measurement results will guide future decisions including goals and timelines; Demanding transition plans for all private market funds with fossil fuel investments - no matter the amount invested; Stating goals and timelines for emissions reductions; Striving for a higher percentage of climate positive investments; Reporting on progress towards just transition including workers’ rights and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.

See Part 1 of this blog for a continued analysis of the NZP Report.

Building on Oregon Treasury’s 2025 Progress toward Net Zero Emissions - Part 1

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 20:31:44 GMT

Part 1: Building on Oregon State Treasury’s 2025 Progress toward Net Zero Emissions

Divest Oregon applauds initial action, offers recommendations for future reporting, including the use of multiple metrics

Part 1 of Divest Oregon’s review is below. Part 2 can be found here .

In her cover letter and public outreach for the report, Treasurer Steiner has emphasized three major “results of this strategy:”

1. A 50% drop in the “emissions intensity” in OPERF from 2022 to 2023

2. A doubling of “climate-positive” investments as of June 2025

3. A steady decline in fossil fuel private market holdings since January 2023

Divest Oregon has reviewed the report in depth, carefully analyzed these findings (read our full analysis here ), and developed specific recommendations for future reporting from the Treasury.

To understand these results, Divest Oregon took a deep dive into the numbers, asking not only “how could this happen” but also “what else can we learn about OPERF’s carbon emissions footprint?”

A 50% Drop in Emissions Intensity ?

Treasury reports a 50% drop in emissions intensity in the OPERF holdings from 2022 to 2023 (the only time period considered in emissions calculations in the report).

A 50% reduction in any emission metric would indeed be remarkable, especially during years when the EPA estimated US emissions dropped by only 4%. How could this happen?

There are multiple ways to measure portfolio emissions in the financial world, depending on what aspect of decarbonization you are interested in.

Pension funds are interested in measuring “ transition risk ” — the challenge the companies they invest in face in transitioning to a renewable energy future. They measure their holdings’ “ emission intensity ” to evaluate the size of that “transition risk.”

The emissions intensity metric measures how much carbon a company emits relative to the company’s revenue . In this case, “revenue” refers to the total amount of money a company earns from its operations, such as selling goods or providing services, before any expenses are deducted. The more emissions per revenue, the greater likelihood of a greater “transition risk.”

Here’s the catch: Even if emissions increase, the emissions intensity number can still decrease — simply because revenues (the divisor in the calculation) increase even more , which really doesn’t change the transition risk.

That appears to be what happened between 2022 and 2023:

The emissions associated with OPERF investments actually increased by 28%...
but because the reported revenue associated with its investments increased by 195%...
the “ emissions intensity” fell 50%

This surge in revenues was driven mainly by one asset class: private equity – and one company within private equity.

The report states that private equity revenues associated with OPERF’s investments went from $242 Billion in 2022 to over $1 Trillion in 2023 – an $780 Billion increase making up 80% of the total revenues associated with its investments. How could that happen?

Because private equity data is confidential, Treasury relied on modeling rather than company-reported numbers. That makes the results hard to analyze. The report states that private equity’s revenue increased over fourfold from 2022 to 2023 and Treasury shared with Divest Oregon that it attributed this exceptional increase to an indirect stake in a large global technology company with low emissions.

The total 2023 revenues of this global tech company make it a significant market outlier, but there is no way for outside organizations to verify this revenue.

If OPERF’s share of its revenue, as a partial investor, is anywhere near $780 billion, total company revenues would have been multiples of that, into the trillions of dollars. Yet, no company worldwide is reported to have made anywhere near that level of revenue in 2023, or subsequently.

Treasury based much of its 50% improvement in Emissions Intensity on this one outlier.

The Key Net Zero Measure: “Financed Emissions”

Achieving Net Zero for OPERF’s portfolio involves tracking and cutting emissions financed by pension plan dollars until they are balanced out by assets that actively remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Tracking progress to Net Zero depends on tracking the total amount of carbon “owned” by the portfolio’s money. The share of carbon pollution the pension fund itself is responsible for, based on the percentage of the investment it is holding, is called “financed emissions.”

Using this metric:

OPERF’s total financed emissions rose from 35.8 million to 46 million tons of CO₂e (CO2e is “CO2 equivalents” as defined in the Treasury’s Report)
That’s a 28% increase… but, again, most of this comes from one asset class: private equity
According to the Report, nearly half of OPERF’s financed emissions increase came from OPERF’s private equity holdings.

If we exclude the modeled private equity data, a different picture emerges. Outside of private equity, the portfolio’s climate footprint appears largely unchanged. This aligns with broader trends: U.S. emissions changed only modestly over the same period.

Multiple Metrics Tell the Whole Story

Taken together, without the private equity data, these two metrics tell a story of rising revenues during a period when emissions remained about the same. And that is the story of 2022 to 2023, years when the economy was recovering from COVID shocks and energy demand increased.

The reduction in emissions intensity was years before Treasurer Read presented the OST Net Zero Plan and focused staff on strategies to lower the pension fund’s carbon footprint.

No single view of a complex situation is likely to be accurate. Different climate metrics tell different stories and are needed to help tell the full story:

Emissions Intensity (carbon per revenue) reflects transition risk of the portfolio’s holdings — and is greatly affected by swings in the economy. This is the metric the Treasury used to determine its 50% reduction from 2022 to 2023.
Financed Emissions (total carbon owned) reflects the portfolio’s progress toward Net Zero. Although not highlighted or discussed, this metric is also reported.
Financed Emissions Intensity allows internal and external comparisons based on a portfolio’s financial responsibility for emissions.

Relying on the single number of Emissions Intensity — especially one tied to economic swings — can create a misleading snapshot. Experts recommend a dashboard approach using multiple measures.

Better transparency about data quality and assumptions — especially for private equity — would help the public understand true progress.

But, perhaps most importantly, metrics themselves are just numbers. Understanding what is happening behind the numbers, why they go up or down or stay the same, is what makes numbers a meaningful guide to achieving goals. Without context, it is impossible to know what they really mean.

A Doubling of Climate-Positive Investments

To its credit, the Treasury reports that climate-positive investments doubled between 2022 and mid-2025, in line with the Net Zero Plan’s goal of tripling these investments in real assets and private equity by 2035.

These total about $2.4 billion in Real Assets , or roughly 2.4% of the portfolio .

This increase indicates movement in the right direction, though there is room for progress. As with other metrics, context matters: California’s public pension (CalPERS) has committed to investing about 18% of its portfolio in climate solutions by 2030. OPERF should follow suit.

Private Market Fossil Fuel Holdings: Declining — or Just Losing Value?

Treasury reports that private fossil fuel holdings have declined since 2023 .

But the report only shows market value . That makes it unclear whether the fund sold or exited fossil fuel assets or if these assets simply lost value.

From this report of annual investments, there is no way to know whether the fund is truly reducing exposure. More transparency is needed.

Building on Progress for Future CRIA Reports

Divest Oregon recommends several practical improvements for the next report mandated by the CRIA legislation and due at the end of 2026.

The Oregon State Treasury should:

Develop a dashboard that includes multiple climate emissions metrics, including financed emissions, and provide data quality scores for the calculated emissions metrics.

Include scope 3 emissions more prominently to fully reflect real portfolio emissions.

See Part 2 of this blog for a continued analysis of the NZP Report.

Oregon State Treasury should engage or divest from companies fueling a new era of resource conflicts

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 17:04:02 GMT

Thanks to the passage of CRIA and the Coal Act, Oregon is moving toward a more transparent assessment of climate-related risks, engaging with asset managers and companies, and identifying climate-positive investments.

OPERF has nearly $90 million invested with Exxon, $40 million in Chevron, and $5 million in Shell. Can the Treasury hold these companies accountable and protect the wider portfolio from major conflict exposure?

Following is incisive testimony to the January 2026 Oregon Investment Council by Andrew Bogrand, Divest Oregon’s volunteer Communications Director.

For over five years, the Divest Oregon coalition has encouraged the Oregon State Treasury to take seriously the financial risks associated with fossil fuel investments, particularly within the context of the wider energy transition.

Treasury, as well as the Oregon Investment Council, has listened and responded. Thanks to the 2025 Climate Resilient Investment Act (CRIA) and the 2024 Clean Oregon Asset Legislation (COAL) Act , our state is moving toward a more transparent assessment of climate-related risks, engaging with asset managers and companies, and identifying climate-positive investments.

Of course, much of the work remains.

In the spring of 2025, Divest Oregon provided testimony to lawmakers in Salem about the coalition’s support of CRIA. We shared how the bill would help Treasury address “new economic realities, where geopolitical contestation…and natural resource competition will upend the financial logic of passive investing.”

A year later, this statement rings painfully true. We stand on the precipice of resource-driven conflicts in Venezuela, Greenland, and Iran. We are witnessing a deterioration of the international rules-based order, which will come with serious financial implications.

This breakdown is not random. Chevron has played “the long game” in Venezuela, spending millions lobbying the Trump administration and positioning itself to profit following the US invasion. Shell is seeking a multi-billion gas project following the illegal ouster of President Maduro, which presumably also secured ExxonMobil’s interests – not in Venezuela, but in neighboring Guyana . And, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry lobby group including Chevron, Shell, and Exxon, recently pledged to “stabilize Iran” if the regime is ousted there, too.

Of course, whether these companies will profit from this new era of resource colonialism remains unclear. Darren Woods, the CEO of ExxonMobil, said bluntly that Venezuela is “un-investable.” Chevron has also acknowledged that any future work in Venezuela will require extensive guarantees and long-term stability, conditions which remain absent. Despite all the money spent on lobbying, the oil market remains volatile and these companies will likely seek taxpayer support and sanctions relief for risky bets abroad

Treasury has nearly $90 million invested with Exxon, nearly $40 million in Chevron, and over $5 million in Shell. Now the question is how to hold these companies accountable and protect the wider portfolio from major conflict exposure.

Not all energy companies are equal. In contrast to Chevron, France’s TotalEnergies, which Treasury also owns, has no intention to enter Venezuela despite its operations in nearby Suriname, presumably worried that their presence could make a humanitarian crisis worse or even directly fund human rights violations.

If Treasury is serious about engagement, as set forth in CRIA, now is the time to exercise this commitment toward the most politically-exposed companies. Extraction by military force pushes the absolute boundaries of the social license to operate and undermines other holdings in Treasury’s portfolio.

Companies have a major and well-recognized responsibility to avoid contributing to war. This responsibility is rooted in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as well as in international humanitarian law. Companies are expected to conduct rigorous human rights due diligence to ensure that their operations, supply chains, and technology do not fuel or contribute to conflict.

If companies like Chevron and Exxon fail to respond to engagement along these lines then divestment is both an appropriate business decision -- and the right thing to do.

Oregon Treasury Investment Team Causes $3.7 billion loss to PERS Retirement Fund since 2023. Treasury staff disregarded policies limiting private equity investments.

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 16:46:03 GMT

Oregon Treasury Investment Team Causes $3.7 billion loss to PERS Retirement Fund since 2023.

Treasury staff disregarded policies limiting private equity investments.

Overview

A Divest Oregon analysis of Oregon Treasury private equity investment practices finds that years of exceeding the Oregon Investment Council’s (OIC) policy limiting high-risk private equity significantly reduced the performance of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF). These effects total about $3.7 billion in reduced value since 2023 .

At the center of this issue is Oregon Treasury Chief Investment Officer Rex Kim and his investment team , whose long-term private equity acquisitions significantly exceeded OIC’s risk tolerance for OPERF as stated in its investment policy targets. The OIC is a trustee , and an agent’s failure to follow a trustee's instructions is a breach of trust . These events raise broader questions about policy oversight, internal accountability, and the Treasury’s ability to align its investment practices with new directives under the Oregon Climate Resilience Investment Act (CRIA) .

Policy Departures and Oversight Challenges

Since at least 2019, OPERF’s investments in private equity substantially went over the levels established in OIC’s policy targets. Corresponding reductions in lower-risk public equity went well below target. While the OIC sets investment targets, it relies on Treasury investment staff to implement them faithfully.

By 2022, excessive amounts of private equity led to urgent pressure within OPERF to obtain cash for PERS benefit payments. Treasury then undertook substantial sales of public equities. During this time, the CIO argued ( audio at 1:26:40) that OIC’s private equity policy target was just “some 20 per cent artificial number” and existing overinvestments in private equities should continue.

His remark highlights the continuing tension between policy set by the OIC and its implementation by Treasury leadership.

Documented Financial Impact

In 2025, the Oregon Journalism Project reported that Treasury’s overinvestment in private equity reduced OPERF’s exposure to better-performing public equities and caused $1.4 billion in lost value during 2024 alone.

Treasury officials did not contest the reported dollar loss, although Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner noted that a single-year snapshot cannot fully capture the long-term effects of complex portfolio dynamics. Nonetheless, she acknowledged in October 2025 the need to rebalance OPERF’s exposure away from private equity toward more liquid, lower-risk assets.

Broader Review by Divest Oregon

Following Oregon Journalism Project reporting, Divest Oregon conducted an independent examination of Treasury’s investment return statements from January 2020 through the third quarter of 2025. Impacts were calculated by looking at investment yields as they would have been had the Treasury leadership followed OIC policy targets, and comparing them with the yields that Treasury reported.

The analysis confirmed the substance of the Oregon Journalism Project’s finding of a $1.4 billion underperformance in 2024, and identified additional damage to OPERF returns totaling $2.3 billion for 2023 and 2025.

Divest Oregon’s Chart 1 shows these underperformances resulted in cumulative damage of $3.7 billion to OPERF returns since 2023. Had Treasury met the OIC targets, Divest Oregon calculates that OPERF’s total returns would have increased by 1% to 1.5% annually in 2023 and 2024, improving the system’s funded ratio in 2024 by roughly 1% , from 73% to 74%.

2022 Valuation Concerns and Market Context

Looking over a longer window—the six years from 2020 to 2025—Divest Oregon found at least $1.6 billion in net damages, reflecting early years of apparent benefit that were later outweighed by much larger declines. These damages are likely to grow to at least $2 billion as losses continue in 2025, with more possible.

An apparent benefit in 2022 stems from private equity’s laggard valuation response to 2022’s market conditions–the first substantial set of interest rate increases in years, followed by a bear market. That year, OPERF reported far better performance in private equity than public equity. At the November 2022 OIC meeting, Treasury’s Director of Private Markets Michael Langdon acknowledged “an excess mark-up” in the portfolio and warned that future write-downs could erase much of those gains. OIC audio recording beginning at 58:29.

At the December 2022 meeting, consultant Meketa cautioned the OIC that the return difference did not reflect underlying reality. Meketa noted that private equity managers had yet to fully adjust valuations downward during the broader market downturn, and that “a future pullback in these returns is expected.”

Implications for Employer Contributions

Divest Oregon's Chart 2 shows that the 2024–25 period alone accounted for $2.3 billion in underperformance, with additional damage of about $300 million expected if current trends persist through year-end.

2024 and 2025 returns are particularly important because they are considered in setting PERS employer contribution rates for 2027–2029. According to PERS , contribution rates ultimately follow a “fundamental cost equation: benefits = contributions + earnings.” If OPERF had met policy-aligned targets, total portfolio returns would have been roughly 7.0 percent rather than the reported 5.7 percent in 2024 , and 8.3 percent rather than the reported 7.3 percent in 2025 to date —differences that may affect future employer contribution requirements.

How the Shortfall Developed

Mr. Kim , who had a hedge fund investment background, served on the OIC starting in 2016 and became Treasury’s Chief Investment Officer in April 2020. By 2018 , OPERF’s private equity exposure had already begun crowding out public equity investments set by OIC policy. Mr. Kim continued the practice as CIO–even though when he came on board, OPERF’s private equity returns had a long history of failing to meet their benchmark, and even of failing to match comparably lagged returns of the Russell 3000, a standard public index fund.

Then a sharp rise in interest rates occurred during 2022, halving private equity cash flows while increasing capital calls from fund managers, straining OPERF’s liquidity. Because private equity cannot be traded in a direct market, selling in secondary markets is complicated and costly . Treasury therefore sold large amounts of public equity assets in order to meet pension obligations. By December 2023 , public equity accounted for only 16.5 percent of OPERF , far below the 27.5 percent policy target —and OPERF missed out on large market gains.

After criticism from Divest Oregon and pressure from Treasurer Read, Treasury began reducing commitments and undertaking about $4.5 billion in secondary-market sales , as reported by The Oregonian . These sales typically return 68 to 94 percent of book value, but the public does not know the specific amount of any OPERF losses. Treasurer Steiner, despite exemptions in the public records act for financial performance of private investments ( ORS 192.355(14)(b) ) is refusing to disclose results of each secondary market transaction.

Pattern of Deviation

Divest Oregon’s Chart 3 illustrates how the amount of OPERF’s investments in private equity (blue line) has consistently exceeded the OIC’s private equity targets (heavy dotted black line). It also shows the OIC’s upper and lower ranges around those targets (red and black dashed lines).

High and low ranges are not intended to justify consistent overweights in high-risk assets, which can be reduced at no cost by investing in less of them.

Divest Oregon's Chart 4 shows how OPERF’s investments for public equity consistently were below target, and often well below the lower range, because of the Treasury investment team’s overinvestment in private equity.

Broader Governance Implications

Divest Oregon’s findings highlight the need to ensure that Treasury investment staff faithfully implements policy. Treasurer Steiner now faces practical challenges in restoring alignment between policy and practice. Doing so is crucial not only to protect OPERF, but also to ensure that the Treasury can effectively implement, without direct or indirect avoidance, new climate-aligned, risk reduction investment mandates under CRIA.

Rebuilding Public Trust

Rebuilding public trust requires complete transparency and resulting accountability. Independent analysis by journalists and Divest Oregon has brought long-standing undisclosed issues to light, but the Treasury itself has not yet provided a comprehensive public accounting of the financial impacts to OPERF and what led to them.

A clear, factual, published review of 2019-2025 private and public equity investment decisions—supported by full disclosure of secondary sale results—would help clarify lessons learned, support policy reforms going forward, and begin a process of rebuilding trust.

Conclusion

Oregon Treasury’s extended overexposure to private equity departed from OIC’s intended risk-tolerance policy, contributing to an estimated $3.7 billion in reduced OPERF performance since 2023 . The episode underscores the importance of aligning portfolio strategy with governing policy, maintaining transparency in valuation practices, and ensuring that the OIC, Treasurer, and Treasury staff’s fiduciary duties are exercised with faithful regard for the instructions of policymakers.

Looking ahead, meaningful progress will depend on candid evaluation of past decisions and the establishment of safeguards to prevent disregard of future policy. Only through that process can confidence in Treasury’s stewardship—and in the state’s long-term investment policies under the Climate Resilience Investment Act—be rebuilt.

Two New Reports! Can the Oregon pension fund support a just transition to clean energy? Screening investments is the key

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 14:00:17 GMT

Two new reports by Divest Oregon highlight the interdependency of lowering fossil fuel investments and a just transition to clean energy. Pension funds seeking to invest in low carbon investments to support climate health must examine the impact of proposed investments on the health and well-being of communities.

The Oregon Treasury is committed, by a recently passed Oregon law , to “the goal of reducing the carbon intensity of the [Oregon Public Employees Retirement] fund through a preference for investments that reduce net greenhouse gas emission” while “investing in public equity holdings that incorporate the tenets of a just transition in their overall priorities and portfolio.” Pension fund investments that do not support a just transition present a financial risk to investors. As a United Nations International Labour Organization report explains:

A failure to promote a just transition represents a threat to effective climate action, and can contribute to increased inequality and fuel social unrest. This, in turn, can lead to major financial implications for banks and insurance companies as social instability, transition risks and physical climate change impacts may disrupt clients’ business operations due to interruptions in their supply chains, impacts on human health, or loss of livelihoods.

In its report, Oregon Treasury’s Investment Screening Failures , Divest Oregon finds that Oregon Treasury’s failure to screen its investments results in investments that worsen the climate crisis, violate people’s rights, cause injury, and cause negative consequences to the Oregon Treasury and its holdings.

The report offers examples of the interdependence of climate and investment results. One notable example is the Rio Grande Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Export Terminal.

In December of 2022, OST committed $350 million to GIP Fund V for the project. The 900-acre project was sited on sacred tribal lands without free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in the face of strong and broad community and global opposition. Construction and operation of the terminal promised to devastate the last deepwater port in the Gulf without fossil fuel projects, and destroy key components of the local community and economy.
The risks were financial as well as environmental. Multiple banks and insurers had already withdrawn their support when the Oregon Treasury chose to invest. The project had no FERC permit and was in litigation. GIP’s two previous funds had a history of underperformance. There were numerous indicators that the LNG market would be glutted by the time this project came online.
A July 31, 2025 decision by FERC gave a green light to the project. As of September 2025, the earliest projected completion date is 2030. Pipeline and export terminal infrastructure is designed to last for decades with obvious repercussions for the climate and the community. Opposition to the project continues.

Divest Oregon’s Just Transition and the Oregon State Treasury report describes the financial benefit to pension funds of investments that promote a just transition to clean energy. Citing the guide for investor action from the Investing in a Just Transition Initiative and United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), it notes 5 reasons why investing in a just transition is in the best interest of beneficiaries and in line with fiduciary duties by:

Responding to systemic risks
Reinvigorating fiduciary duty
Recognizing material value drivers
Uncovering investment opportunities
Contributing to societal goals

The report presents recommendations for a just energy transition for public pension funds. It calls for pension funds to establish investment policies regarding Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and Fair Labor Rights and provides a detailed explanation of these principles and their relationship to the financial health of pension funds.

Citing examples of pension funds that have successfully utilized the principles of just transition like NYSERS and CalPERS, the report provides a guide for pension funds to adopt ethical and beneficial investment strategies.

Press Release: Divest Oregon calls for better screening of investments at Oregon State Treasury

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 02:44:24 GMT

Portland, OR - The Oregon Treasury’s Investment Screening Failures report revisits emblematic fossil fuel projects that the coalition identified as “investment failures” in 2023. These projects worsen the climate crisis, cause harm to communities and the environment, and result in negative economic consequences to state employees’ retirement savings that the Oregon Treasury manages. Treasury is invested in these projects either directly through a private equity fund or indirectly through stock ownership. The report argues that the Treasury must urgently adopt more rigorous screening mechanisms to better protect Oregon’s Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) and help advance a more just energy transition .

“The core question of the report is: Do fund beneficiaries want their retirement money to fund the climate crisis, community destruction and human rights violations?,” said Jenifer Schramm, co-lead of Divest Oregon and the report’s author. “And, are the beneficiaries aware of the financial risk of these investments? Is the Oregon State Treasury aware of the risks?”

In the fall of 2022, the Treasurer pledged a climate focus in the portfolio. A short while later, the Treasury invested hundreds of millions in a private fund dedicated to construction of a massive liquid natural gas terminal on the Texas Gulf Coast. This financially problematic investment raises the question of the Treasury’s investment selection process. The report argues that better screening, more transparency, and less reliance on notoriously secretive private investments would reduce the harm, increase trust among fund beneficiaries, and ultimately produce better returns.

“The Investment Screening Failures report challenges the Oregon Treasury to tell the beneficiaries of the fund it manages how investments are chosen and what their retirement funds are supporting,” said Richard Brooks, Climate Finance Program Director of Stand.Earth. “The first Failures report graphically illustrated the fossil fuel industry’s disregard for Indigenous rights and labor rights; its destruction of climate and communities. Two years later the profiled investments look no better – and the Treasury continues to invest in the fossil fuel industry. We’ll be watching to see if the Treasury follows the report recommendations and updates its investment screening and oversight.”

Press Release: New Oregon law requires State Treasury include ‘just transition’ framework, new report offers roadmap

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 02:40:20 GMT

Portland, OR - Following the recent passage of the Climate Resilience Investment Act ( CRIA - HB2081) requiring that Oregon follow a “just transition” for investments in public markets, a new report from Divest Oregon – Just Transition and the Oregon State Treasury – outlines the urgent need and a framework for the Treasury to support a just transition to clean energy.

According to the Oregon Just Transition Alliance , a nonprofit coalition of rural, coastal, and urban communities, a just transition is “about moving from a harmful, extractive economy to one that gives more than it takes, heals more than it harms, and allows people and the land to thrive.”

The new report from Divest Oregon highlights key considerations as Oregon invests in a clean-energy future, including how the Oregon State Treasury can advance labor rights and the right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous communities. The report offers a wide range of actions that other pension funds are already implementing to safeguard the long-term sustainability of their investments while providing ways to evaluate similar efforts at the Treasury.

“Advancing a just energy transition is not only a moral obligation to frontline communities impacted by Oregon’s investments, but now a legal requirement that is backed by sound financial guidance,” said Rory Cowal, lead author of the report and Divest Oregon member. “We hope that this new report will offer initial guidance for the Treasury as they create a roadmap to implement their own ‘just transition’ framework.”

The report outlines the financial benefits to pension funds that promote a just transition toward clean energy, citing the guide for investor action from the Investing in a Just Transition Initiative and United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI). Pension funds that utilize these frameworks can more effectively respond to systemic risks, uncover unseen investment opportunities, and contribute to societal goals that enhance the health of the wider portfolio. While the Oregon State Treasury has emerged as an early adopter of this just transition framework, other pension funds have already successfully utilized just transition principles, including the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) and the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).

“Oregon Treasury’s commitment to advancing a just transition puts it in line with national and international leaders,” said Susan Palmiter, co-lead of Divest Oregon. “We hope that this report supports Treasury leadership as they take the critical steps to support a clean energy transition in a way that not only complies with the law but allows Oregonians to more fully benefit from climate-safe, rights respecting investments.”

Private Investments at Oregon Treasury - in Graphs

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 23:30:21 GMT

To respond to a news release by the Treasury that their most recent quarterly returns have been excellent, Divest Oregon publishes this set of charts that focus on the following statements and question:

Private equity hasn’t delivered superior performance over the long term to OPERF
Treasury staff disregarded OIC private equity policy and invested too heavily for many years
OPERF allocations to all forms of high-risk opaque private investments are out of step with peers
Can an unreformed Treasury culture be relied on to implement Net Zero policy?
A statutorily required OIC complete investment program audit is five years overdue

Divest Oregon looks forward to a public statement from the Treasury that addresses these issues and questions.

Divest Oregon Sends Clear Message at Oregon Investment Council Meeting

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 17:31:39 GMT

At the September 3rd Oregon Investment Council (OIC) meeting, Divest Oregon members made strong statements about the need to curb private investments. Risky, illiquid, high-fees and low-returns investments obscure a lot of the emissions that PERS is funding - and are difficult to divest in times when the need to be nimble is more critical than ever. You can read some of the testimony about

AFT-Oregon’s Harper Haverkamp spoke of concerns of 17,000 members that are reflected in the recent AFT/AAUP National report . This report calls out pension funds’ private investments as antithetical to AFT’s values.

Nichole Heil, from Private Equity Stakeholder Project , traveled from California to speak about the climate devastation and financial risk of two private investments made by the Oregon Treasury.

More media coverage is showing up around the state about private investments at the Oregon Treasury. See the September 2 article from Willamette Week and the Oregon Journalism Project entitled, “More Questions Arise About State Investments in Private Equity.”

Treasury’s Love Affair with Private Investments Doesn't Add Up

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 22:02:23 GMT

Treasury’s Love Affair with Private Investments Doesn’t Add Up

Two recent, major investigations by The Oregonian and the Oregon Journalism Project in Willamette Week and statewide local newspapers, recently detailed significant problems with the Oregon State Treasury’s private equity overexposure for PERS.

Following these publications, Divest Oregon has received questions about the information and risks of this exposure, which our coalition has tracked with concern for years. In this memo, we provide answers.

By standard financial yardsticks, Treasury’s private equity investments in the past 13 years routinely underperformed the benchmark long established by the Oregon Investment Council (OIC). They regularly underperformed the broad US stock market. They have not provided exceptional returns. Simply put, Treasury’s love affair with private equity no longer adds up.

OPERF’s 10-year rolling average private equity returns are substantially below OIC’s benchmark

OIC Investment Policy 1203 (at p.11) says that OPERF's private equity allocation is managed to produce net excess returns “over very long time horizons, typically rolling, consecutive 10-year periods” (emphasis added).

Below are the 1, 3, 5 and 10-year third-quarter private equity rolling returns Treasury presented to the OIC at its 1-22-2025 meeting , at p.59. All OPERF 1, 3, 5 and 10-year rolling returns are below OIC’s benchmark (Russell 3000 stock index + 3%) by substantial amounts, though Treasury's website at p.9 says 1-year stated returns are not meaningful.

Here is the same data for the previous year , 2023, at p.35. The amount compared to benchmark is slightly positive over 3 and 5 rolling years, and substantially negative over 10 rolling years.

In 2022, the year before that (at p.16), the 3 and 5-year returns are substantially positive, but the 10-year rolling return is substantially negative.

In 2021, the year before that (at p.29), the 5 and 10-year returns are substantially negative.

Note the “IRR” designation of returns above, which means the estimates are of an “Internal Rate of Return.” This is the common method for stating Treasury’s private equity returns. However Treasury's website at p.9 warns: “Due to a number of factors . . . the IRR information in this report DOES NOT accurately reflect the current or expected future returns of the partnership. The IRRs SHOULD NOT be used to assess the investment success of a partnership or to compare returns across partnerships.” (emphasis added).

This points to real problems with how OPERF values its private equity investments. If you are confused about why Treasury would state values in one place that it calls unreliable in another . . . so are we.

Two-thirds of OPERF private equity’s 9 most recent consecutive 5-year rolling averages failed to meet benchmark

In addition to the performance failures documented in the last four consecutive 10-year rolling averages, we were able to calculate the results of the 9 most recent consecutive 5-year rolling averages from data that OIC consultant Meketa presented to the OIC.

The data is annual year-end comparisons of OPERF’s private equity returns with its Russell 3000 index + 3% benchmark, for years 2012 through 2024, here (p.77) and here (p.84). Meketa presented the data in OIC meeting materials and Treasury can not disavow them. (Calculation results show some differences with the 1, 3 and 10-year rolling returns presented above. That is because those returns are based on third quarter numbers, not year end numbers.)

The Meketa-presented data allows the calculation of the most recent 9 consecutive rolling 5-year averages: 2012-2016, 2013-2017, 2014-2018, 2015-2019, 2016-2020, 2017-2021, 2018-2022, 2019-2023, and 2020-2024. The Meketa numbers show OPERF’s private equity returns failed to meet benchmark in 6 of the 9 rolling 5-year averages. In 5 of those 9 averages, private equity even failed to meet the return of the Russell 3000 index —not the 3 percentage points higher which is the standard.

This means OPERF’s private equity performed worse than a broad US stock market index during more than half the rolling averages examined. That is not high performance as has been so often touted by Treasury management and staff.

On average over the entire past 13 years, private equity failed to even meet the Russell 3000 index

Tellingly, OPERF’s private equity on average over the entire 13-year period failed to meet benchmark (Russell 3000+3 percentage points) and even failed to meet the Russell 3000 index. According to Meketa’s numbers, OPERF’s private equity average return over 13 years was 13.29%; the Russell 3000 average was 16.37% and the 3% higher benchmark average was 19.37%.

This means OPERF’s private equity performed worse than a standard stock market index over the entirety of the past 13 years, and underperformed its benchmark by a whopping 31%. Over the past 13 years OPERF would have earned 40% more on the money it put into private equity (3.08% annually x 13 years; 47% with compounding) if Treasury had put its PERS beneficiaries’ money into the standard stock index fund OIC chose as a base for comparison. Instead, staff disregarded policy and continuously steered OPERF into increasing amounts of private equity—with all its overt and covert fees and costs, secrecy, complexity, illiquidity, and economically undesirable and even destructive side effects.

This is a spreadsheet of our benchmark calculations.

For the past 7 years, Treasury staff disregarded its OIC-mandated investment range for private equity

In OIC meetings, Treasury has contended that everything is proper because even though it continues to substantially exceed its target for private equity investments, private equity’s 26.5% share of OPERF is within OIC’s approved “range” of 17.5%-27.5% of OPERF’s portfolio.

Treasury omits saying that ranges are established in order to “balance the desirability of achieving precise target allocations with the various and often material transactions costs associated with . . . rebalancing activities.” (OPERF Investment Policy Statement p.12.)

But there are no transaction costs to slowing the growth of private equity in the portfolio by buying less of it. Transaction costs occur only from sales of existing holdings in the secondary market. And Treasury staff has been pushing the upper range for ever-expanding private equity investments from 2015 until recent slowed commitments and the $4.5 billion in value- depressing secondary sales reported by The Oregonian.

OPERF monthly returns and asset allocations, available on Oregon Treasury’s website, show that in 2018 the OIC-approved range for private equity in OPERF was 13.5% to 21.5%—the target of 17.5%, plus or minus 4%. They further show that staff exceeded that range in the fourth quarter of 2018 when OPERF had 22.1% of its portfolio in private equity.

For the next 3 years, in every quarter but one, Treasury management allowed staff to exceed its OIC-approved private equity range. By the third quarter of 2021, OPERF was almost 9 percentage points above its target and 5 percentage points above its upper range.

There were no real brakes on this growth. In the fourth quarter of 2021 OPERF’s private equity came within the upper range–but only because the OIC increased the upper range from 21.5% to 27.5%. And the new private equity range, unique among OPERF asset classes at the time, was itself imbalanced. Rather than plus or minus the same number around the target, the OIC skewed the range to be 7.5 percentage points above the increased 20% target, and 5 percentage points below it (as graphically represented in the figure below). The accommodation to staff’s profligacy is obvious.

Treasury remained resistant to lowering allocations even as the problem of misallocation loomed.

At a November 2022 OIC meeting, Treasury management sought to solve the misallocation problem by again raising the private equity target, from 20% to 22%. After Chair Samples expressed her disapproval, management said (at 58:45) “I could tell you candidly whether it's 20 or 22 it makes no difference to us. We’re still going to be executing the same plan.” At the OIC’s January 2023 meeting, management described (at 1:26:30) OIC’s private equity policy target as “artificial”: “I don’t think we as an organization are in a rush to get down to 20 percent. We hope to get there in time, but understanding what you’re saying, your question, we don’t want to lose the long term value of what we're doing in order to get to some 20% artificial number. ”

From October 2018 through September 2021, Treasury management allowed private equity to exceed the upper range of OIC approval in 11 of 12 quarters. After the OIC then increased the upper range, Treasury management and staff still exceeded it in 7 of 15 quarters. And if the OIC in 2021 had approved a range of plus or minus 5 percentage points from target—the balanced practice it usually followed—then OPERF private equity would have been beyond the upper range in all quarters but one for the past seven years —from October 2018 until today.

Management and staff should have taken OIC policy seriously. The signals to start a responsible path to target were readily apparent in 2015. Instead, Treasury waited eight more years for the bottom to fall out of OPERF’s excessive private equity investments in 2023.

While no one can always predict the behavior of future investment markets, anyone can predict that damage to pensions should be expected when pension investment policy is disregarded for years. Had Treasury simply followed policy, rather than disregarding it, OPERF would not have incurred the $1.4 billion investment loss calculated by the Oregon Journalism Project and published in Willamette Week .

This table shows Treasury management’s and staff’s disregard of private equity’s upper ranges from 2018-2025.

Treasury management defends its serial policy violations as good for OPERF. They’re not.

The Oregonian quoted Treasury’s chief investment officer as saying that longstanding OIC policy expecting 3% above-market performance from high-risk private equity returns “may not be the best measure.” He contended that over the last 20 years, OPERF’s private equity outperformed the stock market by 2 percentage points and he suspected the OIC would be happy with that—even though that is a 33% reduction in OIC’s policy—expected market outperformance for private equity.

These comments do not inspire confidence that Treasury management is facing reality. The facts speak for themselves: Seven years of serial policy violations by investment staff that resulted in today’s $1.4 billion loss, and a private equity 13-year average that performed worse than the broad US stock market—making Treasury's high-fee, high-risk, illiquid bets costly losers, not index-beating winners.

OPERF’s heavy reliance on private investments raises important policy questions:

Should a responsible public pension fund invest a quarter of its assets into a class that generates almost half of all financial risk to the portfolio? That is the risk Treasury reports to the OIC (March 2025, p.102), as seen in OST’s presentation chart at below right.

Should a responsible public pension fund invest almost 60% of its assets in opaque private investments with no public oversight? OPERF is out on a limb in this regard. Public Plans Data, an independent academic and professional consortium, reports that in 2024, state and local pensions averaged about half the amount of private equity (13.7%) as OPERF has, as well as about half the amount of overall private investments (30-33%). And a 2024 survey of 50 top pension executives found that most thought a 20-40% allocation to private assets was reasonable—while none thought more than 50% was reasonable .

Treasury’s disregard of OIC allocation policy is not limited to private equity.

Treasury’s Real Assets class, another set of secretive private investments, comprises 10.5% of OPERF , even though its target is 7.5% and its approved upper range is 10%. That puts it 40% over target, and over its top permissible range. Staff tells the OIC (at p.68) it does not expect to bring the allocation to target until 2032—7 years from now. And as seen from Treasury’s Risk Contribution chart above right, Real Assets is also an outsized risk contributor—with 10.5% of OPERF assets, it generates 16% of portfolio financial risk.

At least as importantly, much of PERS emissions intensity comes from the Real Assets class. That must be addressed immediately. As shown above from Treasury’s April 2025 presentation to the OIC (at p.54), about one third of these assets are in sectors funding fossil fuel extraction, infrastructure, and power generation.

These OPERF investments create and cement decades-long greenhouse gas emissions. They will inevitably increase global warming that economists now identify (at pp.15-20) as posing increasingly substantial risks to GDP and investment values.

As shown below, Treasury’s consultant Ortec (in its 2021 Climate Scan Report at p.8) forecast a 37% reduction in OPERF values by 2060 under a failed transition—the path for which OPERF is currently investing. OST’s climate investment choices, along with other public pension funds, matter considerably to their own future returns and to future retirees.

Treasury staff nevertheless ignores this substantial climate risk, and claims a history of Real Asset returns 1-2% over benchmark, presenting (at p.66) to the OIC this April an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 7.6% from inception of

the asset class to date. However, Treasury’s website says “IRRs SHOULD NOT be used to assess the investment success of a partnership or to compare returns across partnerships.” More accurate information on Treasury’s website shows Real Asset returns to be 4.8% from inception to date on a time-weighted basis. This 4.8% is almost 2% below benchmark .

Conclusion: An unremedied problem in Treasury’s investment culture will continue to cost PERS billions. It will also sink the Net Zero Plan for OPERF.

Treasury’s own numbers belie the contention that private equity is a high-performing asset that is worth its high risk, complexity, secrecy and illiquidity. In the past, perhaps yes, but the past is over. Experts agree that high interest rates and too much money dedicated to too many marketers from firms chasing too few deals have drastically changed the attractiveness of private equity. Simply put, Treasury management is driving private equity investment by looking in the rearview mirror.

But the problem at Treasury is more than bureaucratic inertia. Years of ingrained conduct by Treasury management and staff show they have resisted and even flouted OIC investment policy when they want. Recent news investigations pulled the curtain on a troubling and problematic investment culture in need of serious reform.

Without reform to overcome active staff resistance to policy, PERS will not just continue to leave billions on the table. The future of the Treasurer’s Net Zero Plan, and the climate-protecting investment changes that must come from it, are in grave doubt. Prominently hanging in the balance is an end to new private investments in decades of climate-damaging fossil fuel projects and infrastructure. This was a promise made by the previous Treasurer in the Net Zero Plan, and made by the current Treasurer on the campaign trail.

It is time for those promises to show themselves in action–beginning with a complete and public examination of how and why Treasury management and staff spent the better part of the past 10 years disregarding OIC policy on private equity investing.

Questions for Treasury and OIC about Private Investments

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 21:28:47 GMT

Open Letter to Treasurer Steiner and members of the OIC:

Recent reporting in The Oregonian , Willamette Week and OPB’s Think Out Loud have highlighted concerns about OPERF’s investments in private equity, including acknowledgement by Treasury that OPERF’s 20-year average return for that asset class is 33% below its market outperformance benchmark.

According to those reports, this has resulted in significant investment losses that would not have occurred had OST balanced its portfolio following allocation targets set by the OIC. These losses have subsequently increased the tax burden of public employers, such as schools —schools that have now had to lay off teachers. This has meant that the $500 million increased school funding approved by the legislature in 2025 must be used to pay for increased PERS contributions, rather than being used to improve student outcomes as illustrated below.

On the heels of these reports in the local media, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Association of University Professors, and Americans for Financial Reform released a report, From Public Pensions to Private Fortunes: How Working People’s Retirements Line Billionaire Pockets (July 30, 2025). The report summarizes in a solid, documented, and readable manner the many studies showing how private equity and related forms of private investment no longer deliver superior returns, particularly on a risk-adjusted basis, along with concerns about workforce management practices.

The response from OST has been less than informative, with simple references to the need to invest “on a 40 year horizon,” which does not answer the critiques from investment experts quoted in the articles or noted in the above articles and report.

It is time for OST leaders to explain to beneficiaries and the public in detail the rationale behind their unusual strategy, including:

● Given the uncertainties of our current economic situation, why do they think private investments will outperform others?

● What data are they using to support this view?

● What guidance are they being given, by whom, to follow this path?

● Given their reference to positive private investment performance in the past, aren't they simply “driving with the rear-view mirror?”

It would appear from recent news reports that OST is taking undue risks with beneficiaries' pensions. It is time for OST to answer the criticisms raised.

For your reference, we have attached a more detailed letter regarding the major issues raised and a list of questions posed by these news articles and reports. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

AAUP-Oregon

AFT-Oregon

Senator Jeff Golden

Senator Khanh Pham

Senator James Manning

Representative Farrah Chaichi

Representative Lisa Fragala

Representative Mark Gamba

Divest Oregon Coalition

Attached below: Illustration of losses to Oregon school from the Willamette Week article.

Private Investments in Oregon PERS in the News

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 01:09:15 GMT

“How the Managers of Oregon’s $100 Billion Pension Fund Ignored Expert Guidance and Lost Big”

James Neff, Willamette Week August 5, 2025 ( link to article )

“Oregon’s pension fund bet big on private equity. That could be a problem”

Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian , July 21, 2025 ( link to PDF )

Two recent articles published in The Oregonian and Willamette Week investigate the issue of the Oregon Treasury’s reliance on private investments in Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF). The Treasury’s over-dependence on these funds (often called “private equity”) led Divest Oregon to put forth the Pause Act in the Oregon legislature’s 2025 session.

Although the Pause Act was not enacted into law, it raised questions around the Treasury’s overuse of private investments, that they:

are heavily invested in the fossil fuel sector
are secretive - with minimal oversight,
charge high fees
are more likely to oppose unionization efforts and are ten times more likely to go bankrupt than their peers not controlled by private equity,

and, as the two recent articles demonstrate, they are not delivering for Oregonians.

As Ted Sickinger explains in The Oregonian :

"For decades, Oregon’s public pension system has been kept afloat by a gusher of income from its investments in private equity, opaque private partnerships that typically buy companies, manage them, then try to sell them at some point for big profits.The returns have played a meaningful role in maintaining the system’s financial health, routinely outpacing other investments and keeping a funding deficit caused by misguided benefit decisions decades ago from becoming even larger than the nearly $30 billion shortfall today.

Yet in the past several years, even as the stock market has been booming, that private equity gusher has slowed to a relative trickle. That’s undermining the system’s total investment returns, causing cash flow issues and, as of July, contributing to another rise in the punishing contribution rates that government employers are required to make to the fund."

James Neff, in Willamette Week , estimates that OPERF “lost out on” $1.4 billion in 2024 in its rate of return by relying on private investment.

How the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lost out on more than $1 billion last year. (Khushboo Rathore and Whitney McPhie)

These big losses to OPERS are bad for more than 400,000 Oregonians who are PERS members who rely on their retirement now or in the future. But the losses affect everyone in the state. Delving into the “punishing contribution rates” for all government entities that Sickinger cites, Ness highlights the case of the Grant County School District. It had a $900,000 hike in its payment to OPERF this year. That caused the district to make painful cuts and lay off teachers.

Ness says: "Every public employer from the state of Oregon down to the smallest special district – 904 government employers in all – is in materially worse shape this year because of the pension fund’s anemic investment returns."

Further, the article reports:

“An OJP [Oregon Journalism Project] investigation of the Oregon Investment Council, interviews with people in and outside of the State Treasury, and an examination of thousands of pages of documents, meeting minutes and financial data show that those poor returns could have been averted if Oregon had simply invested the funds in accordance with the guidance for which it pays its outside experts handsomely.

For years, that advice has been for the state to put more money in the stock market and less in a form of investment called private equity—a risky kind of financial engineering in which investment managers buy private companies and seek to resell them in seven to 10 years. And while some major state pension funds and university endowments have been reducing their private equity holdings, Oregon has stayed the course."

Results have been dismal.

For the past 10 years, Oregon’s investments in private equity yielded returns below its yardstick—the Russell 3000 Index plus 3%. Last year, Oregon’s private equity portfolio yielded just 4.1%, far below the Russell 3000 benchmark, which yielded 38.4%.”

Private equity might be “embedded” in the culture of the Treasury, but the institution has the capacity for change. We have seen this firsthand: since our coalition’s forming in 2021, the Treasury has emerged as a national leader in climate-safe investing. When it comes to sticky questions around investment allocations -- and bigger ones around how the finance sector is extracting wealth from our communities and our futures -- Treasury staff should demonstrate this same level of leadership.

Listen in to the conversation between James Neff and Dave Miller on OPB’s Think Out Loud (8/11/2025) focusing on the Oregon PERS private investments.

Blog photo credit: Oregon's PERS headquarters in Tigard, photographed in 2018. LC- Mark Graves

Oregon Treasury's "Climate Resilience Investment Act" (HB 2081A) Passes

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 23:17:56 GMT

Oregon Treasury's "Net Zero" Bill, HB 2081 , passed both chambers of the Oregon Legislature on June 16, 2025. This legislation directs the Oregon State Treasury (OST) and the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) to manage and report on climate-related financial risks to the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). Introduced by State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, the bill intends to align PERS' investment strategies with the state’s climate goals while upholding fiduciary duties.

HB 2801 is a step in the right direction for low-emission investments in the Oregon State Treasury, but it is only a first step toward addressing climate risk. Significant limitations must be addressed through Treasury policy or future legislation.

Specifically:

It acknowledges climate change risks but only addresses Scope 1 and 2 emissions , which means continued investment in scope 3 sectors, like oil and LNG (liquified natural gas) terminals, is still possible. Critically, the bill fails to focus on fossil fuel holdings within p rivate investments , which comprise nearly 60% of OPERS holdings.

It highlights Just Transition principles, yet the bill applies these principles solely to public equity holdings, excluding private investments. This again overlooks a large segment of OPERS holdings.

It aims to reduce the OPERS portfolio’s carbon intensity by preferring investments that cut net greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are no defined timelines, and the vague definitions could allow for superficial compliance without real progress in decarbonization.

Biennial reporting is mandated, enhancing transparency, but annual reports would offer greater accountability.

The bill was passed with bipartisan support and the support of all major labor unions representing PERS beneficiaries. It reflects a shared commitment to safeguarding the financial health of PERS in consideration of the risks posed by climate change. HB 2081 takes effect on the 91st day following the adjournment of the 2025 regular session of the Eighty-third Legislative Assembly.

To read more about HB 2081 and what it means for Divest Oregon’s campaign, visit the HB 2081 webpage .

The article entitled, "Oregon moves closer to law requiring carbon neutral public retirement plan" discusses the bill in detail ( Oregon Capital Chronicle , 6/16/2025).

Divest Oregon conversation with Coast Range Radio: Why is Oregon’s Treasury Addicted to Fossil Fuels?

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 23:35:52 GMT

The interview by Michael Gaskill with Divest Oregon’s Sue Palmiter and Rick Pope provides an overview of the Divest Oregon campaign -- perfect to share with friends and family members!

“The statewide coalition Divest Oregon has been calling out the Treasury’s dirty investments for several years now, and they have also put out policy proposals, research, and legisl ation to shift our investments to help foster a clean energy economy.”

— M Gaskill, Oregon Coast Radio

Specifically, the conversation covers:

The Pause Act (SB 681) which focused on new private fund investments in fossil fuel infrastructure like pipelines and LNG export terminals
The Treasurer’s legislation ( HB 2081A ) on some movement toward net zero, a just transition, and reporting to the legislature and public
The Climate Risk Report on the need for a paradigm shift in the Treasury’s thinking as to the financial impact of the climate, especially on public employees now in their 20’s, and the need to act together with other pension funds to direct the 11 trillion they manage toward mitigating future climate impact
The addition of a fossil fuel free fund as an investment choice under the 529 College Education Plan - sign the Green529.org petition
Divest Oregon’s inside/outside strategy

This half-hour conversation is a terrific snapshot of Divest Oregon’s work.

Find it on almost any podcast app - here are a couple:

Divest Oregon’s New Report on Climate Risk to Oregon Public Employees’ Retirement

Tue, 27 May 2025 19:33:08 GMT

“The major point is strong, valid and well presented — abating climate change produces economic and investment benefits far outweighing costs. The stewards of pension fund assets should exercise all the pressure they can to avoid the severest climate outcomes."

RICCARDO REBONATO , Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School; Scientific Director, EDHEC Risk Climate Institute; author, “How to Think About Climate Change”

Pension fund managers are confronting a tumultuous financial landscape. What is creating uncertainty? Inflation, tariffs, artificial intelligence, the energy transition, an oversupply of liquid natural gas, the rise of private equity and private credit… and the unique risk of climate change, which is the mother of all risks.

Why is climate change an overriding risk to financial portfolios? Divest Oregon’s Rick Pope explains why in the Divest Oregon 2025 Climate Risk Review: No Place to Hide , a deep dive into current climate, economic and investment research. It stresses a core theme: The portfolio of retirement funds cannot be diversified to offset the risk of unabated climate change. There is nowhere for fund managers to hide from the fact that the entire portfolio of investments will be affected by climate catastrophe.

Why is this important? Public pension funds in the US control nearly $11 trillion in assets of nearly 36 million state and local beneficiaries who depend on their funds to support their retirement. How fund managers invest the funds in their care can influence the market and influence public policy.

Praise for the report from Treasurers, academics, and climate activists provides insight into the report’s impact.

As the report documents, acting now to offset climate change will cost far less and harm asset values far less than accelerating climate change. Acting together, fiduciaries can move the market by investing in climate solutions, rather than financing climate destruction.

How does the Climate Risk Report fit into the rest of Divest Oregon’s current work to pressure the Treasury to stop investing in fossil fuels?

Divest Oregon submitted testimony in support of the current Treasurer's bill to reduce emission-creating investments in the portfolio. Oregon’s Treasurer is the first in the country to put forward a legislative mandate to consider climate risk and just transition in its investment decisions as it moves toward a low-carbon economy ( HB 2081 ).
The Treasurer’s proposed legislation ( HB 2081 ) requires a just transition to clean investments. Divest Oregon and allies are working to articulate steps to implementation of this provision by the Treasury.
The legislation has a reporting requirement. Transparency is an issue since approximately half of the PERS retirement fund has been invested in private investments, generally called private equity, which are currently secret. Reporting is a key tool in measuring progress toward reducing climate risk to the portfolio – and to all of us.
A major part of our ongoing work is to pressure the Treasury to create a comprehensive and rigorous plan to stop the portfolio from contributing to climate degradation.
Divest Oregon has a new campaign to encourage the Treasury to add a fossil fuel free option to the Oregon 529 Funds .

The release of the 2025 Climate Risk Review clearly and unequivocally puts the Oregon Investment Council and the Treasury on notice that they must act to protect PERS assets from the risk of depressed values from climate change. As fiduciaries who must protect the financial well-being of their beneficiaries, their mandate is to assess risk – and climate change is an overriding risk – and factor it into their investment and resource allocation decisions. Confronting the impact of climate is the essence of their job.

“'No Place to Hide: A Climate Risk Review' by Divest Oregon is a powerful review of the system-level risks that climate change poses to the global economy, and therefore to the investment returns of long-term intergenerational pension funds. This report makes clear that pension fund fiduciaries need to act in the near term to promote a just clean energy transition if we are going to reduce economic damage from climate change. This release is a timely and valuable resource which provides practical recommendations and a comprehensive and actionable framework as asset owners, fellow fiduciaries of pension funds and other universal, long-term investors are seeking to align their portfolios with long-term sustainability goals while navigating an ever-evolving regulatory landscape.”

BRAD LANDER , Comptroller, City of New York

What is the Pause Act Win?

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 16:54:16 GMT

Divest Oregon introduced The Pause Act ( SB 681 ), with Chief Sponsor Oregon Senator Jeff Golden’s support, to enact a five-year moratorium on new or renewed Treasury investment in private fossil-fuel funds.

Why The Pause Act?

For the past 50 years, the finance sector has dangerously re-written the rules of the global economy, including here in Oregon. Wealth has been extracted from our communities while our greenhouse emissions skyrocket. At the leading edge of this transformation has been the aggressive expansion of the private investment sector, generally referred to as private equity, which has over a trillion dollars in fossil fuel investments.

The Oregon PERS portfolio is heavily weighted to private investments, which make up approximately half of the fund.

The Pause Act is based on a key provision in past Treasurer Read’s net zero plan – which recognizes that portfolio emissions cannot be meaningfully reduced without ending new investment in long-term private funds holding fossil fuels.

In the year since Treasurer Read announced his plan, to the public’s knowledge there has been no constraint on new private fund investments in fossil fuels. The Pause Act introduces transparency by requiring reporting to the public on progress under the bill.

Current Treasurer Steiner has made a commitment to emission reduction of the portfolio. The Pause Act highlights the need for urgency, reflecting the impact of the climate crisis on all Oregonians and on the PERS portfolio.

What The Pause Act accomplished

Divest Oregon is engaged in ongoing discussions with the Treasury on a number of topics, including its stated goal of portfolio emission reduction and addressing climate risk to the portfolio. Divest Oregon’s years of pressure were a factor in Treasurer Read creating a Net Zero Plan and in the past and current Treasurers seeking to mandate the creation of an emissions-reduction plan through legislation. The Pause Act built on and continued that advocacy.

SB 681, the Pause Act, created pressure on the Treasury, from the legislature and Divest Oregon members, to get specific as to how it will reduce emissions and confront the risk of climate to the portfolio. The Pause Act messaging made it clear: The Treasury must take an essential step to stop digging the hole deeper and address the elephant in the portfolio: long term private investment in fossil fuels.

The bill died in committee despite an outpouring of public support. Its support was captured in the article from Oregon Capitol Chronicle (March 20, 2025).

Why did the Treasury oppose the Pause Act?

Treasurer Steiner made it clear that she would not support the Pause Act and would focus only on the Treasury’s bill, HB 2081. That bill set a goal of limited emission reduction and reporting, with no mention of private investments. (HB2081 was enacted as the “Treasury’s “Climate Resilience Investment Act”).

The Treasury’s opposition to the Pause Act was problematic. It argued SB 681 would limit diversification, but SB 681 did not stop the Treasury from having a diversified strategy. There was nothing in the bill that said the Treasury should stop investing in private equity, real estate, or real assets – which are the major components of their private investments. The Pause Act required only that the Treasury would not invest in private investments that would be funding fossil fuel infrastructure, in accordance with the goals of the Net Zero Plan, as well as the goal of obtaining strong returns on investment:

Private investments have not always provided strong returns. Treasury’s testimony on returns compared private equity with public equity returns. That comparison was a selective misdirection. The Real Assets asset class, which are private investments, actually has lower 5 & 10-year returns than Public Equity, and yet those returns were not reported in their testimony. Moreover, the Real Assets class produces twice the emissions intensity of the Private Equity class. (For more details, see the Divest Oregon full response to the Treasury testimony.)

Source: Jan 2025 OPERF returns from Oregon Treasury website

In ongoing conversations with Treasury, Divest Oregon will encourage them to put aside inappropriate arguments and confront the reality that the level of illiquid long-term private investment is the source of half of emissions (as noted in Treasurer Read’s plan, p 33) and stands in the way of the Treasury accomplishing the goals stated in their HB 2200. Ending new private investments in fossil fuels is a necessary step in reducing emissions.

It’s important to highlight the new Treasury administration’s current stance as Divest Oregon continues to encourage the Treasury to adopt an effective position in pursuit of our common goal: reducing risk to the PERS portfolio in the midst of climate change.

Bottom Line: The question to the Treasury going forward

What is Treasury’s plan, instead of SB 681, to “pursue the goal of reducing the carbon intensity of the fund” especially with the preponderance of private investments in the PERS portfolio?

Oregon Treasury's Net Zero Plan 2024 Report - An Analysis

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 19:27:52 GMT

In December 2024, the Oregon Treasury published their Oregon Net Zero Plan 2024 Annual Report . Kudos to Treasurer Read for creating a Net Zero Plan and publishing the 2024 annual report before leaving office. Treasurer Read’s strong statement that climate risk is financial risk is essential context for the report.

Divest Oregon published this analysis of the 2024 annual report including the following sections:

Transition Readiness Framework/Carbon Intensive Review

Manager Activity/Private Investments

ESG Integration/Forming Alliances and Engagement

Investing in climate-focused funds

Proxy Voting

Stewardship and Universal Ownership

Divest Oregon strongly recommends the following:

The Treasury's report should be sent to all PERS beneficiaries and prominently displayed on the Treasury website.
Stakeholder input should be solicited during the formulation of Treasury action in this sphere and before the publication of the next plan report.

Press Release: “First-in-the-nation” Pause Act will protect Oregon retirees from private equity’s overexposure to fossil fuels

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 18:42:35 GMT

“First-in-the-nation” Pause Act will protect Oregon retirees from private equity’s overexposure to fossil fuels

Labor unions, faith communities, and environmental groups across Oregon have endorsed Senate Bill 681, which will allow the Oregon State Treasury to “press pause” on private fossil-fuel funds.

Salem, OR -- Introduced by Chief Sponsors Senator Jeff Golden (D-Ashland) and Senator Khanh Pham (D-SE Portland), The Pause Act ( Senate Bill 681 ) will enact a time-bound, five-year moratorium on investment in new Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) private fossil-fuel funds. Roughly 60% of PERS investments are made in private markets, including in private equity and so-called real assets (e.g., oil and pipelines). Private markets are overexposed to the fossil fuel sector , which carries major long-term financial risk.

“For the past 50 years, the finance sector has dangerously re-written the rules of the global economy, including in Oregon,” said Bill McKibben, Founder of Third Act. “We have seen wealth extracted from our communities while our greenhouse emissions have skyrocketed. At the leading edge of this transformation has been the aggressive expansion of the secretive and speculative private investment sector which has over a trillion dollars in fossil fuel investments and minimal transparency or oversight. The Pause Act is a ‘first-in-the-nation’ bill that will allow the Oregon State Treasury to ‘press pause’ on private investments in fossil fuels and take time to address these risks.”

“The private equity industry continues to invest workers’ retirement savings in fossil fuels with minimal transparency or oversight, despite the worsening climate crisis,” said Nichole Heil, Senior Research and Campaign Coordinator at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “It’s more important than ever for states to safeguard pensioners’ retirements from climate related financial risk and rein in unchecked investments in private equity oil and gas funds.”

According to the Oregon State Treasury, private equity is a drag on PERS performance . Private investment firms charge high fees to public pensions and are overinvested in volatile energy markets in an effort to reap short-term profits. Moreover, companies owned by private equity firms are more likely to oppose unionization efforts and are ten times more likely to go bankrupt than their peers not controlled by private equity.

“It is clear -- by Treasury’s own admission -- that private investments are $11.7 billion * over the limit set by the Oregon Investment Council and returns are way down. Commitment to a private fund is typically a decade-long commitment, so this portfolio imbalance is a big problem. Private investments are extractive, secretive, and risky,” said Divest Oregon co-lead Jenifer Schramm. “The Pause Act gives Treasury staff the time to address the enormous risk to the climate and to the portfolio of private investments in fossil fuels and to consider more labor-aligned, business-friendly, climate-safe investments.”

According to bill sponsors, the Pause Act aligns with former Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read’s “ Pathway To Net Zero ” plan, which was designed to reduce climate change risk to the PERS portfolio. This net-zero plan was endorsed by a wide range of labor groups and political leaders in Oregon.

"The Pause Act reflects Treasury’s 'Pathway To Net Zero' plan and is designed to protect PERS from the financial risk of private investments,” said Senator Jeff Golden, the bill’s sponsor. “This is the right time to stop throwing good money after bad investments and give our dedicated Treasury staff the latitude to better align investment practices with emerging research on the risks to these funds.”

Notes:

New Report! A Comparison of US Pension Funds' Net Zero Plans

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 01:24:56 GMT

Few public pension fund trustees have adopted a plan to address the risk of climate change to their portfolio. Oregon should be applauded as one of them, yet how does Oregon’s proposed plan compare to the major net zero plans of other US public pension plans?

Divest Oregon has just released a comprehensive and detailed Comparison of US Pension Funds' Net Zero Plans Report . It allows the Oregon Treasurer and the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) to see what other fiduciaries are planning, to adopt best practices, and to change OIC policy as needed. Climate change is moving fast, and the report should be used by Oregon PERS and all fiduciaries to move faster in implementing a strong plan.

The report compares the net zero plans of public pension funds of NY City, NY State Common Fund, CalPERS, CalSTRS and Oregon PERS. These net zero plans are evaluated on 7 key criteria:

Portfolio Net Zero Target Dates
Just Transition
No New Investments in Fossil Fuels
Climate Aligned Investments
Fossil Fuel Divestment or Exclusion
Transparency & Reporting
Climate Association Leader

The Divest Oregon report includes an overview and an easy-to-read summary, so check it out!

Oregon is part of a national coalition, the Climate Safe Pensions Network, whose members will also benefit from this report.

The details of Oregon’s plan are very much a current issue. Former Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read published A Pathway To Net Zero in 2024. The newly Treasurer, Elizabeth Steiner, is committed to having a net zero plan for the Oregon pension plan. Divest Oregon’s proposed legislation this session, The Pause Act , focuses on the provision in the net zero plan that ends new investment in fossil fuel private funds.

The Treasury and the OIC have a duty to make productive investments that preserve and protect fund assets and the viability of the pension system. A core component of that duty is addressing the risk of climate change consequences to the financial health of the portfolio which includes 96 billion in PERS retirement funds of state employees. This task is bigger than reducing the emissions generated by the portfolio. Yet that reduction is an important aspect of weeding out or transforming investments that are undermining the entire portfolio by their contribution to climate change.

NEW REPORT: In 2023, 21 Private Equity Fund Holdings Emitted a Gigaton of Carbon Oregon owns 11 of them!

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 02:39:27 GMT

The newly released 2024 Private Equity Climate Risks Scorecard & Report by our allies, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Global Energy Monitor, and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, gives us new insight into private equity firms and OST investments in these secret funds.

Twenty-one major private equity firms manage $6 trillion in assets – and two-thirds of the energy companies in their portfolios are invested in fossil fuels. Oregon state employees’ pension plan (PERS) invests in 11 of these 21 funds.

From Private Equity Climate Risks: https://www.peclimaterisks.org/2024scorecard/

The 21 funds are responsible for 1.17 billion metric tons CO2 equivalent of emission each year from upstream oil and gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, and coal-fired power plants.

That gigaton level of emissions is more than three times the energy used to power all the homes in America. It exceeds the global aviation industry and is on the scale of the 2023 Canadian wildfires. See the graphic above.

With over a trillion dollars in energy investments that generate high greenhouse gas emissions, noted in the new report, private equity firms have an outsized role in accelerating the climate crisis – and these investments expose their investors, including the Oregon State Treasury, and all the beneficiaries who rely on the Treasury, to significant financial risk.

Investment by the Oregon State Treasury (OST) in fossil fuels has persisted in the face of a clear link between their investments and risk. An October 2021 report, Private Equity Propels the Climate Crisis , documented OST investment in 6 out of 10 of the largest private equity firms with approximately 80% of their energy investments in oil, gas, and coal.

It is difficult for the public and often even for investors to access data on private fund investments – which commit funds for a decade. Information about private fund commitments is shielded from disclosure by state statute and contract. Our allies have undertaken laborious independent research to offer a window into an opaque and largely unregulated industry – and its enormous fossil fuel footprint.

The 2024 Scorecard’s researchers and 22 endorsing organizations, including Divest Oregon, demand that the private equity firms adopt five important climate standards. These standards urge that institutional investors like OIC add their voices in support of the firms to:

1. Align with science-based climate targets to limit global warming to 1.5⁰c

2. Disclose fossil fuel exposure, emissions and impacts

3. Report a portfolio-wide energy transition plan

4. Integrate climate and environmental justice and

5. Provide transparency on political spending and climate lobbying

Is the Oregon State Treasury Supporting Environmental Racism in the Gulf South?

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 21:40:16 GMT

Above: Natural coastal area of the proposed Rio Grande LNG terminal. Credit: Dylan Baddour/ Inside Climate News

Below: Artist Rendering of the Rio Grande LNG project (Photo: Business Wire , 11/21/2019)

On September 18, 2024 our allies released a report on Citi Bank: Citi: Funding Fossil-Fueled Environmental Racism in the Gulf South , which includes a case study of the Rio Bravo pipeline and the Rio Grande terminal.

Is the Oregon State Treasury (OST) also supporting environmental racism in the Gulf South? Yes .

Was it a controversial project at the time the OST invested? Yes .

Was the OST an important investor? Yes .

In fact, Oregon’s investment in the LNG terminal is considered so key that spokespeople for those affected by the project traveled from Texas to ask the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) to use their influence to cancel the project.

Here is the story of Oregon’s decision to invest in this financially troubled and environmentally devastating project – and what the OST can do now.

In December of 2022, OST invested $350 million in Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) Fund V to build The Rio Grande LNG Export Terminal in Texas.

The Oregon Treasury decided to invest in spite of widespread project opposition

The Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas (Esto'k Gna) has been fighting the terminal for years; the construction site of Rio Grande LNG is part of their sacred Garcia Pasture. In 2020, local residents, the city of Port Isabel, and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against FERC for authorizing the construction of the Rio Grande LNG and Rio Bravo Pipeline.

Why was there frontline opposition for years before OST invested? The proposed Rio Grande LNG facility will cover 984 acres . The Boca Chica Wildlife Refuge on the Rio Grande delta is about 6 miles east of the LNG export terminal.

Brownsville is the last major deep water port in Texas with no large fossil fuel projects. The terminal would be the largest single-source polluter in South Texas and would severely degrade local fishing, shrimping, and nature tourism industries.

This project is estimated to emit the equivalent emissions of 44 coal power plants every year !

The Oregon Treasury decided to invest in a financially troubled project.

What information was available at the time OST decided to invest in this GIP fund?

Insights into the fund driving the project from Nichole Heil of Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP): The Rio Grande LNG terminal is the only investment of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) fund V, per Pitchbook . The fund is apparently still short [in September 2024] of its target fundraising. GIP’s two predecessor funds have underperformed relative to peers, according to Pitchbook .
This project was plagued by international opposition and withdrawal of bank and insurer commitments before the investment was made. See this factsheet and timeline by Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society .
As PESP noted in a headline in the briefing Private equity’s role in US liquefied natural gas emissions : “Global Infrastructure Partners finances Rio Grande LNG after European investors exit”
PESP sums it up in a January 5, 2024 article: Global Infrastructure Partners’ proposed Rio Grande LNG Terminal poses risk to investors

Was the investment consequential? PESP notes the GIP investment provided the financing commitment needed for the project to reach the Final Investment Decision (FID), which allowed the project to move into the engineering and construction phase. The project manager Next Decade confirms the importance of the FID in this project .

Appeals directly to the OIC

Carrizo and Comecrudo Tribal Leaders and other activists, supported by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, traveled in September 2023 to speak with heart and facts to the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) about the devastating impact of this project. Their request? As a major investor and limited partner, pressure the fund to cancel the Rio Grande LNG Export Terminal project.

Nichole Heil of Private Equity Stakeholder Project spoke again to the OIC a year after that first presentation. Through a written September 4, 2024 public comment , she described the additional legal troubles and delay the project is facing.

August 2024 court order has derailed project

On August 6th, the D.C. Circuit Court issued a decision to vacate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)’s approval of the Rio Grande LNG, which stops the project from moving forward. The company may appeal. The Court found FERC’s decision had serious procedural defects including a failure to “account for its updated environmental justice analysis.” The appeals court also ruled that FERC needed to consider the company’s Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) proposal as part of its environmental review of the terminal. The developer of Global Infrastructure Partners’ proposed Rio Grande LNG terminal, NextDecade, saw its stock plummet by over 40% after the court ruling. NextDecade announced on August 20 that it has withdrawn its application for a proposed Carbon Capture and Storage project at the terminal.

The CCS proposal is described in a 2/3/2023 Guardian article: Carbon capture project is ‘Band-Aid’ to greenwash $10bn LNG plant, locals say .

The Demand

To the OST and OIC: pressure GIP partners to terminate this enormously destructive and financially risky project.

UC Investments Reaps Big Returns From Index Fund Shunning Fossil Fuels, Tobacco

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 15:16:18 GMT

A recent article in Chief Investment Officer reported that the University of California had solid returns mostly stemming from a fund that excludes tobacco and fossil fuel investments:

The University of California’s endowment and pension fund each returned more than 12% for the fiscal year ending June 30, boosting the total asset value of the university’s investment portfolio by $16 billion to $180 billion.

Some $1.3 billion of that $16 billion gain came from a single S&P 500 index fund—one which excludes tobacco and fossil fuel investments—that provided the portfolio with its single biggest investment gain.

We assume the OIC and Treasury would be thrilled by these types of returns, given the drag that private investments are causing to the portfolio returns, and the continuing liquidity problems of private funds.

UC invests where they have a strong conviction while fulfilling their fiduciary duty. The two are not mutually exclusive:

“This past fiscal year was about investing only in what we fully understand and taking full advantage of low-fee index funds guided by what we call the UC Investments Way,” said UC CIO Jagdeep Singh Bachher in a statement. “It’s about simplicity and leveraging our scale to concentrate on areas where we have strong conviction.”

Bachher added that he believes the U.S. and “its resilient economy and thriving innovation ecosystem … is the best place to invest,” and the UC system has backed that up by allocating approximately 75% of its portfolio to domestic investments.

We look forward to seeing the OST swiftly shift a significant portion of OPERF to index funds that exclude fossil fuels and to end any consideration of new investments in private funds that are laden with fossil fuel assets, as described in the Treasurer’s Net-Zero Plan.

Collectively the country has moved past climate denial. The Oregon Treasury and the Oregon Investment Council should not get mired in solution denial . The solutions for a healthier pension and planet are available now!

How Oregon’s Pension Fund Helps Vladimir Putin’s Gas Gambit

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 17:14:29 GMT

A recent Bloomberg article explains that Oregon PERS made critical energy flow to the Putin regime possible, by enabling an LNG terminal. How? A $500 million financial commitment made in 2020 with $209.3 million is still available for investment, even after Treasurer Read said he would “Stand with Ukraine” and OIC agreed to end all Russian investments. This long-term, locked-in commitment of funds is one of reasons Divest Oregon continues to question private investments – especially since they are often laden with risky fossil fuel companies. Private investments comprise over half of the PERS portfolio .

Background: The Oregon Treasury committed $500 million to the Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund IV in 2020 . In fact, the Treasury has been investing in Stonepeak Infrastructure Funds since 2012 . The commitment to a private fund is a long-term one. Once that commitment is made, the Treasury can only exit that fund at a steep loss, and once the commitment is made, the Treasury had no say in specific investments by the fund managers.

Bloomberg reported that pension funds, including Oregon, enable the largest Russian LNG export terminal to function. Stonepeak invested in Seapeak LLC, which provides ice-class carriers specifically designed to carry Russian LNG from the Arctic. The carriers are only used for this purpose and are essential to the gas terminal. The investment by pension funds enables critical revenue flow to the Putin regime. The Bloomberg article states:

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as CalPERS, is one of the investors in Stonepeak’s fund and it said in response to a Bloomberg query that it had already raised concerns with the general partner.
‘We believe that Russian investments pose a material risk to our long-term investment success and have taken actions, consistent with our fiduciary duty, to remove these assets from our portfolio,’ John Myers, chief of Calpers’ office of public affairs, said in a statement. ‘We will continue monitoring events to ensure our partners’ actions are consistent with our investment beliefs.’
The Washington State Investment Board, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois declined to comment.

Divest Oregon asked the Oregon Investment Council in one of our many emails to them: Is this a responsible investment, or a material risk? There were no sanctions violated, but does this uphold the pledge to “Stand with Ukraine” made by Treasurer Read and backed by the Council? We also asked: Do the long term risks justify continued new investments in predominantly fossil fuel private funds? We request that the OIC insure that there are NO NEW investments in fossil fuel investments especially in the private investment or bonds/credit markets. Digging the hole deeper makes no sense when you are already over target allocations in these private investments.

Image: A Russian ice-breaking LNG Carrier. Source: VCG/Visual China Group/Getty Images

The American Association of University Professors Votes to Divest From Fossil Fuels

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 17:25:16 GMT

At the June 15th national-level meeting of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), delegates overwhelmingly approved a sweeping resolution demanding that state pension boards and other fund managers divest fossil fuels from their funds.

AAUP Oregon, the state-level organization of the AAUP, is a member of the Divest Oregon coalition and a leading union voice for divestment in our state. Victor Reyes, AAUP Oregon’s executive director, responded:

“Watching the resolution pass with such overwhelming support by AAUP members from across the United States filled me with pride and reinforced the importance of the work we are continuing to do in our state as members of the Divest Oregon coalition. Our members understand that there is no retirement in a destroyed environment, and I feel confident that public support for divesting from fossil fuels can only grow with these recent wins.”

Now the resolution goes to the AAUP executive committee for ratification and to direct its implementation.

The Urgency of Now to Shift to Renewables

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 23:18:43 GMT

These articles were shared with the members of the Oregon Investment Council in June 2024.

When considering the speed of the transition , here are some important data points:

Electric Cars are Suddenly Becoming Affordable ( NYTimes Business Section, 6/3/2024)

“The E.V. market has hit an inflection point,” said Randy Parker, chief executive of Hyundai Motor America, which will begin producing electric vehicles at a factory in Georgia by the end of the year. “The early adopters have come. They’ve got their cars. Now you’re starting to see us transition to a mass market.”

IEA expects global clean energy investment to hit $2 trillion in 2024 ( Reuters , 6/5/2024)

The Cleantech Revolution ( Rocky Mountain Institute , 6/2024)

The world has moved on to the steep part of the S curve (as shown below), which will sweep us from minimal reliance on renewable energy to minimal dependence on fossil fuel. Last year or this year, we will hit peak fossil fuel demand — the advent of cheap solar and wind and batteries, combined with rapidly developing technologies like heat pumps and EVs, has finally caught up with the surging human demand for energy even as more Asian economies enter periods of rapid growth. (comments by Bill McKibben)

When considering the risk of not taking firm action regarding climate risk to the portfolio , this recent Forbes article may be of interest:

The Shares Heard Round The World: How Citizen Stockholders Fight With Finance ( Forbes, 6/10/2024)

Note that the risk calculated by Ortec recently for the Government of Singapore (GIC) is even higher than the risk calculated back by Ortec in 2021/2022 for OPERF.

The author states: “There is another type of risk that cannot be prudently minimized through diversification, however, called “systemic” or “systematic” risk. Systemic risk causes assets to decline in value together; diversification is of no help. The investing world was jarred into recognition of systemic risk by the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009, when broad markets declined in sync (the peak-to-trough decline in the S&P 500, for example, was 57% ). That particular systemic risk was unforeseen by most investors, but presently there are a number of systemic risks that we can identify and even expect, that will have severe implications for retirement accounts and funds. One of these is climate change..

These data have obvious implications for pension fund trustees’ fiduciary duty to protect trust property. Fiduciaries can protect their funds from transition risks by changing their investment mix to reflect changing energy practices and policies. But they cannot protect the trust from systemic climate-caused physical damage by diversification. Their only option is to take all reasonable actions to do what they can, jointly with other institutional investors, to engage and support company practices and governmental policies that will abate climate change.

Trump Shakes Down Big Oil for $1 Billion

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 22:23:27 GMT

Four days before the start of his New York felony trial, presidential nominee Donald Trump engaged in some major self-soothing activity — shaking down Big Oil for $1 billion in order to help him trash the climate.

According to the Washington Post, which broke the story, Trump invited two dozen oil executives to a dinner at Mar-a-Lago. After one executive complained about burdensome environmental regulations issued by the Biden administration, Trump responded with a stunner, telling his guests:

You are wealthy enough to raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. That would be a “deal,” he said, because of the costs of taxes and regulation they would avoid thanks to him. He vowed to immediately reverse dozens of environmental rules and policies and stop new ones.

Trump said he would:

End the freeze on new LNG exports - “you’ll get it the first day”;
Auction more Gulf of Mexico oil leases;
Allow more drilling in the Alaskan Arctic-“You’ve been waiting on a permit for five years; you’ll get it on Day 1”;
Continue to “hate wind” [explaining why he breaks it?]. (According to the New York Times, Trump claims that windmills cause cancer and are driving whales insane).
Scrap electric vehicle mandates (although they do not exist). Presumably this means scrapping regulations to reduce auto tailpipe emissions.

Trump has earlier promised to end California’s ability to require cleaner cars than federal regulations do.

One person involved in the industry said many oil executives wanted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or another Republican to challenge Biden. But now that Trump is the nominee, this person said, they are going to embrace his policies and give.

Alex Witt, a senior adviser for oil and gas with Climate Power, said Trump’s promise is he will do whatever the oil industry wants if they support him. With Trump, Witt said, “everything has a price.”

“They got a great return on their investment during Trump’s first term, and Trump is making it crystal clear that they’re in for an even bigger payout if he’s reelected,” she said.

Divest Oregon Hosts Treasurer Candidates' Forum and Celebrates Its WINS

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 22:43:50 GMT

The next Oregon Treasurer will be responsible for implementing and strengthening the Oregon Net-Zero Plan . The May 21 Primary will determine who will be the Democratic and Republican candidates for the position.

The theme of the April 2 2024 Divest Oregon forum for the Oregon State Treasurer candidates was Building a Treasury for Tomorrow . Treasurer Candidates Jeff Gudman and Senator Elizabeth Steiner participated in the forum held at First Unitarian Church of Portland.

Divest Oregon was pleased to welcome about a hundred to the in-person audience at the forum and the same number online. Alex Baumhardt of the Oregon Capital Chronicle was the moderator and drew from questions submitted by the audience. Candidate Republican Brian Boquist was invited to participate, but declined.

The moderator referenced two recent Divest Oregon wins: Treasurer Read’s Net-Zero Plan for the Oregon Treasury and the 2024 COAL Act (HB 4083) encouraging the Treasury to stop investing in coal, phase out of current coal investments, and annual reporting on those actions.

The candidates were asked about their plan to get PERS to net zero emissions.

Senator Steiner congratulated Divest Oregon for pushing to get Treasurer Read to formulate a net zero plan and noted the plan’s failure to include scope 3 emissions (author’s note: for example the emissions from burning coal as opposed to Scope 1 emissions from mining coal). She indicated confidence in her ability to discern greenwashing, or the shading of the truth, by companies in which the Treasury has invested.

Jeff Gudman approved of the shareholder engagement with fossil fuel companies included in the plan. He pointed out that the increase in green investing in the plan simply tracks market projections and noted, “We can do better.”

In addressing the lack of transparency of private investments, Gudman suggested reporting after a fund closes out of investments made during the life of the fund. He also suggested reporting on categories of investment rather than specific investments. Steiner affirmed having a diverse portfolio with public and private investments. She suggested more transparency in the guidelines for picking private funds and managers.

Both candidates said it would not make sense in the long term to invest in fossil fuels, but did not commit to a definition of long term. Senator Steiner said we need to drop fossil fuel investments before “they become less and less profitable.” Gudman said we need to enforce companies’ “standards” through shareholder engagement.

Steiner devoted her summary to the toll of financial insecurity and the role of the Treasury in promoting savings plans as well as preserving retirement funds.

In his closing statement, Gudman said the Treasury is already doing a good job in managing its existing programs. He touted a second role of the Treasurer: to use the bully pulpit to promote, for example, allocation of kicker dollars or “using carbon credits to address the climate crisis that we are in.”

The forum was followed by a candidates’ reception and a celebration of the work and the wins of the Divest Oregon coalition.

2023 investments data reveals “business as usual” at Oregon State Treasury

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 17:40:02 GMT

The latest Oregon State Treasury (OST) data for June 30, 2023 reveals that when it comes to its fossil fuel holdings in its portfolio, the Treasury is still following a “business as usual” approach. The consequence of this risky business strategy is falling value in its fossil fuel investments. As discussed in the Divest Oregon report, Oregon State Treasury Coal Investment Performance Report , coal prices are dropping and production costs are increasing. This value drop is across all its fossil fuel holding types, as detailed in the January 2024 report by IEEFA , noting a negative outlook for the oil and gas industry.

As a result of Divest Oregon making repeated public records requests for data of the Oregon Treasury’s portfolio holdings, starting with the 2021 data, each December the Treasury now publishes information about some of the investments on their web site. Divest Oregon published its methodology last year . Continuing their year on year comparison showed that COAL/GCEL holding value reduced ∼ 30%.

Chart 1: Amount of known investments in fossil fuels present in the OST investments for OPERF and the Short Term Fund. OST continues to have significant holdings in oil, gas and coal.

The reduction in the value of coal holdings shown in the 2023 results are most likely indicative of the way the market is moving, and not because anyone in Treasury is deliberately reducing their coal holdings. As an investment, coal is a loser, and its decline in value makes it all the more important for the OST to get out of coal soon, rather than waiting and selling their coal holdings at a big loss. Examples include OST’s holding in CLP, a listing on the GCEL list . As of June 30, 2023 OST had 1.2 million shares valued at $9 million but the share price has dropped 34% over the past 5 years. Similar examples include Anglo American PLC and DTE energy. The Divest Oregon COAL Act aims to legislate the divestment of all OST thermal coal holdings in order to protect returns for PERS members and to protect the environment.

One egregious example of OST’s investment in coal is its 2015 investment of $500m in the Gavin Coal Plant. When OST committed PERS funds to Blackstone Capital Partners VII, it committed to fund a power plant in Cheshire, Ohio that is the seventh largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. Cheshire is now a ghost town because of the plant, and Gavin has been ordered by the EPA to stop dumping coal ash into the Ohio River.

The bottom line is, whether we are talking about $6.6B or $5.8B in investments in fossil fuel, this is a significant amount of money that would have real impact if the Oregon State Treasury invested it in the green economy.

Thank you to Stand.earth for sponsoring this analysis, conducted by Third Rail Economy.

COAL Act Passed in Historic Win for Oregon

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 15:50:43 GMT

In the Fall of 2023, Divest Oregon’s legislative workgroup faced a dilemma. In the 2023 Legislative session, the coalition’s Treasury divestment bill (Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act - HB 2601 ) had not made it out of legislative committee. Now we were facing a short session where there simply was not time for the kind of patient politics that might bring more legislators on board for such a bill. Yet, Oregon was just coming through the hottest summer on record: climate change was clearly accelerating, and the science was clear that fossil fuels were driving this dangerous change.

So the workgroup studied the concerns of legislators and the Treasurer: All of us shared the goal of protecting the Public Employee Retirement Fund (PERS) for Oregonians. However, as long as the Treasurer opposed a bill, we could not move enough legislators to action, even by showing data that fossil fuel divestment would improve the Treasury’s financial position.

With these facts in mind, the workgroup decided on a 3-pronged approach for the COAL Act – the Clean Oregon Asset Legislation bill – HB 4083 with Representative Khanh Pham as the chief sponsor of the bill and Senator Jeff Golden as the co-chief sponsor in the Senate.

First, crafting a bill that was right-sized for the short session. From Divest Oregon research based on public records requests for data from the Treasury, it was now public knowledge that the Treasury was investing at least $1billion in coal-based projects. Whenever Divest Oregon members discussed this with anyone, jaws dropped. “Coal? Really?” So thermal coal (coal used in power plants) – one of the worst emitters of CO2 and pollution – became the focus of the bill. The major arguments presented in the one-pager to legislators focused on the scale of the issue and the fiscal need for the bill. Additional Divest Oregon research suggested that over an 8 year period the Oregon PERS’ coal investments had underperformed, with the research corroborating data from California’s CalPERS about the savings they experienced from coal divestment.

Second, engagement with the Treasurer and his staff. Although the Treasurer was creating a net zero plan, and acknowledging publicly that fossil fuels and climate change posed significant risks to financial returns, Divest Oregon had concerns that this plan would not meet the urgency of climate change. So Rep Khanh Pham, in consultation with Divest Oregon leaders, met regularly with the Treasurer and his chief of staff to hammer out language for the bill that was acceptable on all sides. The language of the bill became advisory, similar to the Sudan divestment bill of 2005, which had successfully resulted in the Treasury removing over $300 million in investments from Sudan. The definition of coal investments were aligned with the definition in the Treasurer’s net zero plan. Ultimately, the Treasurer agreed to testify in favor of the bill.

Third, Divest Oregon advocated for the COAL Act with every legislator in a variety of ways. In January 2024, as the beginning of the short session approached, Divest Oregon organized 100 concerned constituents to go to Salem for a Lobby Day to solidify support and bring legislators on board. Wearing green and sporting Divest Oregon buttons on their lapels, many small groups of voters crisscrossed the capitol building as they went to 35 separate appointments with their representatives and senators. Some more-distant constituents participated via Zoom, through laptops hand-carried to these appointments. At the luncheon afterward, the Lobby Day participants shared three common themes in legislators’ reactions:

“Coal? Really? Why are we still invested in that?”
“We must protect PERS.”
“Does the Treasurer support this bill?”

They also reported that, once reassured on these points, many legislators indicated their support for the bill and signed up as co-sponsors. Thank you notes were signed on the spot, and postcards prepared to follow up once the session commenced, workgroups met, and voting began. Throughout the session, coalition members continued to call, email, and meet with their legislators to urge their support for the COAL Act. Two hundred letters of support for the bill were registered as part of the committee hearings (and a mere 8 in opposition.)

Rep Khanh Pham, Senator Jeff Golden, and many concerned Oregonians testified passionately and knowledgeably in support of the bill in the legislature’s House and Senate committee public hearings. The Treasurer’s own testimony included his statements that the “The issue of climate change broadly is an urgent risk to the investment returns of the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund,” and that the COAL Act “is complementary” to his net zero plan.

Only a day before the end of the short session, the COAL Act passed its final hurdle. Once the Governor signs, the COAL Act will become law, and Oregon will become the third state to pass a public pension divestment bill in the United States, after the Maine divestment bill of 2021 and the California coal divestment bill of 2015.

Divest Oregon, with all coalition partners, plans to celebrate this historic win on April 2nd, at a reception following the Oregon Treasurer Candidate Forum .

Will the Net-Zero Plan meet the demands of the Divest Oregon campaign?

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 22:55:16 GMT

The Oregon Net-Zero Plan was released in February 2024 - one of the first in the United States. Divest Oregon has reviewed, summarized, and analyzed the report to answer the question: Does the Net-Zero Plan meet the demands of the campaign to remove financially and climate risky investments from the Oregon Treasury funds?

Coal Industry Outlook & Support of COAL Act from Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 01:20:41 GMT

Testimony by Dan Cohn, Energy Finance Analyst

Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

To the Oregon State Legislature, House Committee on Emergency Management,

General Government, and Veterans

on House Bill 4083

I submit this testimony in support of House Bill 4083. The coal industry is exposed to significant investment risks as its market position rapidly declines. House Bill 4083 would be protective of the value of Oregon’s pension investments.

The present bill would direct the State Treasurer to avoid new investments into the thermal coal industry; review the pension fund’s current holdings for thermal coal companies; and dispose of thermal coal company securities in a prudent manner, with exceptions made for companies that are transitioning their business into renewable energy on a timeline acceptable to the Oregon Investment Council.

Decreasing the state’s exposures to coal is judicious in light of the industry’s declining prospects. “Thermal” coal is coal mined for combustion in power plants to produce electricity. It comprises the lion’s share of U.S. coal production . The amount of coal burned each day in the U.S. has fallen from about 2.8 million tons a day in 2008 to roughly 1.1 million tons a day in 2023— a 62% drop .

Coal’s share of electricity generation has fallen significantly and faces further declines. Final figures for 2023 are expected to show coal falling short of a 20% share of the U.S. power market. This stands in contrast to all years before 2020, when coal’s market share never dipped below 20%. This about-face is expected to persist in the near-term, as large coal stockpiles at power plants decrease the need for additional coal purchases. The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that total coal mined in 2024 could fall nearly 20% from last year, with further declines in 2025.

The coal industry has negligible prospects for turning around its shrinkage. No new coal-fired power plants have been announced in the U.S. for many years. Coal fired power generation cannot compete on price with natural gas, wind, or solar. Proposals to use coal for non-combustive purposes have not seen significant commercial deployment. Instead, electric utilities have announced new construction of nearly 12 times more solar, wind, and battery storage capacity than the next largest source of new generation, gas-fired power plants.

The future for the coal industry is reflected in its miniscule share of the stock market’s value. At the end of 2023, the coal industry weighed in at a mere 0.038% of the Russell 3000, a commonly recognized index representing U.S. stocks. (FTSE Russell. Russell 3000 Sector Weight Holdings Data. December 29, 2023.)

The present bill directs the Oregon Investment Council and State Treasurer to reduce exposure to coal in a way that is protective of the portfolio’s long-term value:

The bill respects the fiduciary duties of the Council and Treasurer by requiring any investment actions to be prudent and reasonable and by setting as a goal “no monetary loss” to the fund from these activities.
The bill advises the fund to make use of existing knowledge and expertise. By expressly permitting consultations with peer pension funds that have already divested from the coal industry, the Treasurer and Council may reduce costs and increase confidence in the decisions made pursuant to this law. By encouraging the fund to utilize the materials produced by the German organization Urgewald, the bill sanctions the use of one of the most comprehensive lists of coal industry participants available. It is prepared with meticulous attention to detail and is provided free of charge.
The bill requires annual reporting of the Treasurer’s actions in this area until coal holdings are eliminated. Regular and transparent reporting is an essential element to establish trust in public processes and commitments.

Divest Oregon Responds to Treasurer Read's Net-Zero Plan

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 01:11:50 GMT

On February 6, 2024, Oregon Treasurer Read released "A Pathway To Net Zero: Positioning The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund For A Net Zero Carbon Future." The Divest Oregon response, provided to the Treasurer's office, is as follows:

"The Divest Oregon coalition welcomes the release of this net-zero plan. We appreciate Treasurer Tobias Read’s regular dialogue with our coalition of over 100 organizations who are dedicated to ensuring that our state pension fund invests in a sustainable future with solid returns. The Treasurer agrees with our coalition that the climate risks to PERS investments are real and require a substantial response to protect the pensions of more than 400,000 Oregonians. With the policies outlined in this plan, the Oregon State Treasury is taking an important step forward in considering these risks. But this is just the beginning: the success of this decarbonization effort requires Treasury's commitment to transparent reporting, a sense of urgency, and responsive policy-making as the effects of climate change on investment portfolios are increasingly understood. We look forward to our continued engagement with the current and incoming Treasurer, Treasury staff, and the Oregon Investment Council as they further define and implement these policies.”

What follows is the testimony presented by Divest Oregon representatives at the Oregon Investment Council meeting held on February 6:

Broad Oregon coalition endorses 2024 COAL Act (HB 4083) to phase out state’s coal investments

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 17:11:37 GMT

Broad Oregon coalition endorses 2024 COAL Act (HB 4083) to phase out state’s coal investments

Introduced by Rep. Khanh Pham (D-SE Portland), the Clean Oregon Assets Legislation Act (COAL Act) will phase out the state’s public investments in coal companies, estimated at one billion dollars.

Salem, OR -- Public sector unions, faith communities, and environmental groups are urging Oregon lawmakers to pass HB 4083, the Clean Oregon Asset Legislation Act (COAL Act) developed through regular, positive engagement with the Oregon State Treasury. The COAL Act will transition Oregon off the state’s coal investments, stop new coal investments, and require regular reporting from the Oregon State Treasury on these initiatives. There are seven chief bill sponsors joining Representative Khanh Pham (D-SE Portland), Representative Mark Gamba (D-Milwaukie), and Senator Jeff Golden (D-Ashland) in working to pass the bill this winter. The COAL Act is endorsed by Divest Oregon, a coalition representing 100 organizations including unions with tens of thousands PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities.

“The climate emergency is here now, and that’s why Oregon has already committed to move away from coal and source 100% clean energy by 2040. The COAL Act will begin to align our public investments with our existing climate commitments by moving nearly one billion dollars of Oregon State Treasury funds out of coal company stocks,” said Representative Khanh Pham, chief sponsor of the bill. “We owe it to every Oregonian to steward your public funds and pensions wisely, and with an eye towards long-term returns. With hundreds of billions of dollars of public and private investment pumping into clean energy under the Inflation Reduction Act, and the grave risks that coal pollution poses for our climate, there is simply no future upside in coal energy. The COAL Act will ensure that Oregonians’ financial futures are protected from short-sighted investments in the dirtiest fossil fuel.”

The COAL Act is co-chief sponsored by a broad coalition of lawmakers in both chambers: Representatives Khanh Pham (D-SE Portland), Mark Gamba (D-Milwaukie), Rob Nosse (D-NE & SE Portland), Hoa Nguyen (D-E Portland), Tom Andersen (D-Salem), Thuy Tran (D-NE & SE Portland), and Maxine Dexter (D-NW Portland), with Senators Jeff Golden (D-Ashland), Wlnsvey Campos (D-Aloha), Chris Gorsek (D-Gresham), and Michael Dembrow (D-NE & SE Portland). Regular co-sponsors include: Senators Kayse Jama (D-E Portland), Deb Patterson (D-Salem), and Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro), with Representatives Julie Fahey (D-W Eugene), Farrah Chaichi (D-Aloha), Paul Holvey (D-Eugene), Nathan Sosa (D-Hillsboro), Lisa Reynolds (D-NE Washington County), and Pam Marsh (D-So Jackson County).

The COAL Act would not be the first bill to respond to a coal energy sector in decline . In 2015, California mandated a coal investment exit with Senate Bill 185 , saving the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) an estimated $598 million . The Oregon State Treasury, which manages the Public Employee Retiree System (PERS) fund (the nation’s 12th largest), invests over one billion dollars in the coal sector (as of June 30, 2022). According to modeling analysis by Divest Oregon, the Oregon State Treasury's public equity coal holdings underperformed the market by $340 million since 2014 when compared to the S&P 500 Fossil-Fuel Free Index.

Retired PERS member, educator, veteran, and West Salem resident John Skelton was among roughly 100 Oregonians who met with their legislators on January 10 to support the COAL Act. “Oregon divesting from its billion-dollar coal investment is good for the prosperity of Oregon, the security of our retirement funds, and the world we leave to our grandchildren,” he said. “If my investment counselor recommended investing in coal, I’d find a new advisor.”

The COAL Act would also not be the first bill of its kind in Oregon. The 2024 COAL Act was drafted using aspirational language, as requested by Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read, modeled on the 2005 Oregon Human Rights and Anti-Genocide Act (Senate Bill 1089) which set guidelines for divestiture from companies doing business in Sudan. The COAL Act also aligns with Oregon’s commitment to phasing out of coal as a power source starting in 2016 (the state’s final coal-power plant in Boardman was shuttered in 2020).

“The COAL Act gives the Treasury latitude to choose how to best implement the goal of this coal exit and we look to the Treasury’s professional staff to identify and shift funds to the many alternatives that perform as well or better,” said Jenifer Schramm of Divest Oregon. “The costs of not passing this bill are real: coal is a dying industry with diminishing returns and a toxic legacy. The COAL Act aligns with precedent in California, existing policy in Oregon, and best practice globally. With the COAL Act, we can save money and take a small step toward justice, especially for frontline communities and communities of color that have borne the brunt of coal-fired power plants.”

When coal is burned it releases a number of carcinogenic toxins and pollutants . It is the dirtiest way to produce electricity and the global coal phase out must be given policy prioritization , according to the United Nations.

“This COAL Act will help Oregonians move towards a clean energy transition, and it is aligned with the Oregon State Treasury’s fiduciary duty to maximize the value of its funds under management for its beneficiaries ” said Ariana Jacob, President of AFT-Oregon, a union representing 18,000 education workers in Oregon. “As teachers we have a responsibility to make sure our students inherit a safe and healthy environment so that they can thrive. Moreover, as public servants, our future health and security is directly tied to the long-term performance of PERS. Given the clear warning signs from the market and the even clearer warning signs about the world our children are inheriting, there is simply too much risk to continue to invest in coal.”

/ENDS

Note to Editors:

Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read will be releasing a net-zero plan for Oregon PERS at a special meeting of the Oregon Investment Council on February 6.

OST Public Equity Coal Holdings Underperformed by an Estimated $340 Million

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 16:50:07 GMT

Coal is a dying industry, it has declined in value over time, and its use is harmful to the health of all life forms. An increasing number of financial institutions, and public pension funds such as NYCERS, CalPERS and CalSTRS, are exiting coal to avoid holding stranded assets. Yet, as of June 30, 2022, the Oregon State Treasury (OST) had over $1 billion invested in thermal coal-related stocks, bonds and private investment funds, and these investments support the retirement of over 380,000 members of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS).

Divest Oregon set out to analyze how those coal stocks have performed over the last nine years to determine if they have underperformed or performed well when compared to investing in the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) fossil fuel free index.

PERS’ public equity holdings as of June 30, 2022 were reviewed using the Global Coal Exit List from Urgewald (GCEL). GCEL is a list of companies that covers the entire thermal coal value chain from coal exploration and mining to coal power production and coal gasification. It was created by Urgewald to give financial institutions a tool to understand the coal holdings in their portfolios. For 2021, the most recent GCEL available when the analysis was done, any company that generated 20% or more of its revenue or power generation from coal was on the list. It is updated annually and is the most comprehensive public database on the global coal industry. The review generated a set of 152 specific coal holdings with a market value of $610 million as of June 2022.

If the PERS holdings in those coal companies had alternatively been invested in the S&P fossil fuel free index fund starting in January 15, 2014, they would have outperformed the coal investments by an estimated $340 million.

Time series supporting estimate of coal underperformance. Lower line (orange): total value of the 152 public equity coal holdings with available data modeled backward in time from the June 2022 value. Upper line (blue): modeled reinvestment of the January 2014 estimated value in the S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free Index.

The underperformance in the PERS portfolio due to coal investments is most likely much higher than this conservative estimate. OST has more holdings in coal, such as investments in corporate bonds and private investments, thus this result is only a partial analysis of the actual exposure to coal held by OST. The specific investments in private equity funds are unavailable via public records request because of state laws prohibiting their release. Thus, the performance of their coal components cannot be evaluated by the public. An October 2021 report by Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) found that approximately 80% of energy investments made by the top 10 private equity firms since 2010 are in oil, gas and coal. OST’s September 2023 private equity portfolio invests in seven of these top ten firms (Oaktree Capital, KKR, Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, Apollo, TPG, CVC).

For more details on methodology used for this analysis, read this report, “Oregon State Treasury Coal Investment Performance Analysis. ”

What We Know…and What We Don’t…about Emissions from OST Investments

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 21:42:30 GMT

At a roundtable with Divest Oregon organizations and Treasurer Read in August 2023, Divest Oregon was provided the following PERS emissions data (additional follow up details were provided by the Treasury). This chart shows Emissions Intensity by PERS asset class. Notably missing are other private investment asset classes of Opportunity, Risk Parity, and Diversifying Strategies.

Figure 1. Emissions Intensity baseline of Oregon PERS Portfolio by asset class

Almost half of the emissions are from private investment asset classes Real Assets and Private Equity, along with some probably in Real Estate. The Fixed Income asset class contains bonds that support private fossil fuel investments.

Note: These data may be revised by the Treasury. They shared that, "some of these findings are continuing to be refined as we continue to learn more from our investment managers."

Private investments are the biggest challenge in a decarbonization or divestment plan, since investment in private funds is typically made under a 10 to 12 year contract. Private investments are a major issue in the decarbonization plan Treasurer Read is now crafting, since over half of the PERS portfolio is invested in private funds. The specific investments of a private fund are exempted from public disclosure by state statute. As we have documented in earlier updates, we know through statements made to the OIC and research by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project that hundreds of millions of dollars have continued to be invested by OST in fossil fuels, through private funds, in 2023 alone.

Note that the information Treasury is reporting is just Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and not the more extensive and harder to measure Scope 3. Here is a chart from the EPA website describing what is included in each category:

Figure 2. Overview of Greenhouse Gas Protocol scopes and emissions across the value chain

California estimates $598 million positive impact from Coal Divestment

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 23:41:26 GMT

In 2015, the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) divested from thermal coal. The legislation (CA SB 185) prohibits CalPERS from investing in public equity or debt securities of publicly-traded companies that generate 50% or more of their revenue from the mining of thermal coal. Per the legislative mandate, they regularly report on the impact this divestment has on the total fund. This is to ensure that CalPERS’ standards for fiduciary care are upheld when divesting. Wilshire, CalPERS consultants, using the most recent results presented in October 2022, estimated the cumulative positive impact to the fund due to divesting from thermal coal to be $598 million

as of FY 2022.

Though the analysis framework is confidential, it does take a multi-lens approach. In the case of thermal coal, some of the consultants’ considerations include that coal as a source of power is losing market share, China has a commitment to economic decarbonization, the industry faces further fundamental deterioration due to elevated CO2 emissions intensity, and banks reluctance to fund the industry leads to increase costs of funding.

Oregon's Public University Fund: Divested from Fossil Fuels with same or better returns

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 18:02:11 GMT

In the past, the Oregon Treasury invested the Public University Fund (PUF) in the Oregon Short Term Fund, the Oregon Intermediate Term Fund, and the Public University Long Term fund. In January 2017, when the PUF Board of Trustees passed the resolution amending their investment policy to divest from fossil fuels it was decided that the Treasury would stop using the Oregon Intermediate Term Fund for PUF because that fund’s policies do not restrict investment, such as using the Carbon Underground 200 (CU 200).

The Treasury established a separate fund for PUF to manage the fossil fuel-free mandate, called the PUF Long Term Fund. The PUF would still invest in the Oregon Short Term Fund (OSTF) as the Treasury stated that the OSTF had no fossil fuel investments in it. Divest Oregon has found that the Short Term Fund does have fossil fuels in it as of 2022.

This analysis looks at the PUF Long Term Fund after fossil fuel divestment as compared to:

1) its benchmark, established by the Treasury staff as a performance metric, and

2) its performance to the Oregon Intermediate Term Fund (OITF) – the fund they left.

The analysis looks at the funds’ returns for 1 year and 3 years. Consistent data was available for the PUF, its benchmark and the OITF from Q1 2018 through Q1 2022 for 1 year returns, therefore there are results for 17 quarters for 1 year returns. Consistent data was available for the PUF, its benchmark and OITF from Q1 2019 through Q1 2022 for 3 year returns, therefore there are results for 13 quarters for 3 year returns.

The figures below provide these data.

In summary, the PUF without fossil fuel investments matched or exceeded its benchmark and the OITF the majority of the time.

New EPA data shows an OST investment (of your retirement fund) is a “worst of the worst” climate polluter

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 22:50:32 GMT

Lightstone Generation’s General James M. Gavin coal and fuel-oil power plant in Cheshire, Ohio was one of the top 10 worst US climate polluters in 2022, with 11.3 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents. Who Were the Worst of the Worst Climate Polluters in 2022? Inside Climate News 10/29/2023

In 2015-16 Oregon State Treasury (OST) invested over half a billion in the private funds that were poised to acquire Gavin coal-fired power plant. As a backdrop to that investment, the Gavin power plant had already poisoned the town of Cheshire, Ohio…to the point where, in 2002, Gavin paid the residents $20 million to abandon their community! After the investment by OST, the Gavin plant’s emissions increased.

Divest Oregon included the details of the acquisition, and the difficulty of finding out about this private investment, in the 2023 report:

Oregon Treasury’s ESG Failure: PERS Fossil Fuel Investments Fund Human Rights Violations, Community Destruction, and Climate Chaos

As noted in a 2021 IEEFA report, Pension Funds Investing Indirectly in Ohio’s Gavin Coal Plant Are at Risk as Financial, Environmental Disadvantages Mount (IEEFA, 10/14/2021), the risks are both financial and environmental – which of course creates indirect financial risk, as well as putting us all in danger.

Oregon Treasury’s Bet on Private Investment Undercut by Zombies

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 19:08:15 GMT

Oregon was one of the first adopters in the US of private equity fund investments in the early 1980s. In those early days, the returns were high. A couple decades later, types of private fund investments have multiplied, and the risks of these funds are ever more apparent.

There is a need now for a nimble, urgent response to the many crises caused by a changing climate, including financial crisis. The trait of private funds which is particularly problematic is illiquidity or the amount of time fund investments are tied up. Private fund contracts are typically a decade and they can be extended even longer.

The Oregon State Treasury (OST) has an especially big problem since they have invested well over half of PERS members’ retirement in private funds.

In 2009, after a severe recession and a 28% loss to the OST, private fund investment was doubled to 30%. At the time Tobias Read was elected treasurer in 2016 it was 40% – and it kept increasing. As the graph below shows, it was 55% in March of 2022.

Chart from Divest Oregon report " Oregon Treasury Private Investment Transparency Problem " (p 11)

In the face of the climate crisis, and in spite of Treasurer Read pledging a year ago to decarbonize the portfolio, OST investments in fossil fuels through public and private funds continue. Lack of transparency as to OST fossil fuel investments limits the information open to the public – and to the fund beneficiaries. An investment of over half a billion was acknowledged by Treasurer Read, in a January 2023 Oregon Investment Council (OIC) meeting, as having “ oil and gas exposure .” Nichole Heil of Private Equity Stakeholder Project testified in September 2023 before the OIC and noted a February 2023 $250 million investment in Natural Gas Partner (NGP)’s fund. She noted NGP’s track record: "Global Energy Monitor’s analysis concluded that from 2014-2021, NGP portfolio companies generated at least an estimated total of 97 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or about the annual emissions of 26 coal power plants."

So the OST has locked up retirement money in private funds – and in the fossil fuel industry. And each of these actors is under stress.

Chart from "The Private Equity Machine Will Be Tough to Unjam"

The following excerpts provide a rough summary of the article " The Private Equity Mach ine Will Be Tough to Unjam " ( Bloomberg Opinion, 7/3/2023)

Private equity deal making faces two big problems. It is hard to value companies and work out what debt they can bear while interest rates are still moving. The biggest problem is that private equity funds haven’t been paying out much money because it has become hard to sell many of the companies they own at a time when interest rates are rising and inflation is high. Many of the companies that funds already own were loaded up with floating-rate debt before inflation became a problem. The rising cost of that debt is eating up more of their potential profits. Unless rates start to fall again, those companies are going to have to work extremely hard to generate cash and keep their heads above water before their owners can even think of selling them on. Private equity firms live to do deals, to keep raising fresh funds and turning companies over, but with sales grinding to a near halt the whole machine looks like it could be seized up for quite a while yet. That’s tough for the fund managers, their investors — and all those bankers that have come to rely so heavily on the industry for fees.

Chart from Bloomberg Weekend Reading 9/30/2023

Note: This chart includes only private investments in Oregon PERS private equity asset class.

About half of Oregon PERS’s investments are private investments, found in the private equity and several other asset classes.

The following excerpts provide a rough summary of the article: Private Equity’s Slow Carnage Unleashes a Wave of Zombies ( Bloomberg 9/ 24/2023)

Across the $12 trillion industry, hundreds of private equity firms are lumbering on years after their funds’ intended twilight with no new fundraising in sight — a cohort that investors and regulators have dubbed “zombies.”

Many pensions have maxed out how much they can devote to the illiquid asset class. Instead, they’re steering cash to investments that are more attractive as interest rates climb. The result: Buyout firms that failed to build fresh war chests during the recent boom years of low interest rates are now finding it difficult to arrange fresh funds. The industry is on track to raise 28% less than last year, according to Bain & Co. At the same time, aging funds are finding it harder to sell out of their remaining holdings as rising borrowing costs sideline potential buyers.

Pensions and endowments can’t force private equity managers to sell. They can’t pull money from a fund without typically paying a price. Nor can they replace a manager unless there's evidence of wrongdoing. That means zombie funds can go on for years, sucking up pension managers' time and eroding returns. That’s an inconvenient counterpoint to private equity’s pitch that it can reliably take cash from teachers, police, firefighters and other civil servants and hand it back with significant returns a decade later.

For more details about private investments such as:

What are private investments, such as private equity?
What are concerns about private investments?
How do private investments relate to fossil fuels?

See the Divest Oregon report " Oregon Treasury Private Investment Transparency Problem ."

Interfaith Voices: How to live out faith-based investing

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 14:05:53 GMT

A Divest Oregon faith-based organizational leader, Brian Lee from the Corvallis Interfaith Climate Justice Committee, has published a piece in the Albany Democrat Herald and Corvallis Gazette-Times that describes how to live out faith-based investing. In the article, he highlights the need for the Oregon Treasury to be transparent about their fossil fuel investments. Read the article here . Lee states,

Faith organizations have become more transparent with their finances as members’ interest in conscientious investments increases. This carries over to state treasuries where investments of public funds are overseen.

State taxpayers and public workers cannot currently determine if Oregon general and retirement system funds are being placed in investments consistent with long-term benefit to Oregonians. At issue is the transparency of investments in private equity funds, as noted by Divest Oregon.

More than half of the $100 billion in the state public worker retirement system is in private investments. The Oregon Treasury has declined to disclose where those private equity funds invest our money.

This information is not only inaccessible but also complicated due to funds composed of dozens of equities or bonds. It may be too difficult to establish absolute purity of investments and portfolios.

Being a faith-based writer, the inspiration for Lee's article was drawn in part from Luke 19:11-27, the Parable of the 10 Minas (Pounds); Matthew 6:19-21, Where your treasures are, is where your heart will be ; Ecclesiastes 11:2; Talmudic wisdom on diversification, and Investopedia’s faith-based investing guide.

Divest Oregon has a wide coalition of climate activists, labor unions, youth activitists, BIPOC organizations, and faith-based organizations.

100+ Statewide Organizations Call for Urgent Action by Treasurer Read

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 19:59:53 GMT

Multnomah County chose to sue Big Oil and McKinsey for climate damage … and the Oregon Treasury chose to invest in Big Oil and hire McKinsey

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 19:41:37 GMT

Multnomah County made international news by suing Big Oil and their consultant McKinsey and Company for their role in the 2021 heat dome in the county – and asked for tens of billions of dollars for past damage and future climate risk mitigation.

The Oregon State Treasury manages the investment of $137 billion of your retirement dollars and taxes. Treasurer Tobias Read is drafting a decarbonization plan to achieve “net zero” emissions by 2050, or maybe 2040, for the Treasury portfolio. The Treasury continues to invest billions in Big Oil – and chose McKinsey as the decarbonization plan consultant, under contract for $1.9 million .

McKinsey has global reach and an enormous client base. As McKinsey says, on the company website : “Over the past 5 years, we have advised 55 percent of the world’s top 20 oil and gas companies on capital productivity, on more than 285 projects spanning all major hydrocarbon basins.”

A New York Times article, published 10/27/2021, looks closer:

At McKinsey, Widespread Furor Over Work With Planet’s Biggest Polluters

Among the 100 biggest corporate polluters over the past half-century, McKinsey has advised at least 43 in recent years, including BP, Exxon Mobil, Gazprom and Saudi Aramco, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the firm.

Across the world, from China to the United States, McKinsey’s work with these companies is often not focused on reducing their environmental impact, but rather on cutting costs, boosting productivity and increasing profits.

In 2018, those clients alone — not including scores of other polluters advised by McKinsey — were responsible for more than a third of global carbon emissions, based on figures from the Climate Accountability Institute , a nonprofit that tracks corporate emissions and fossil fuels burned by customers of these companies.

In the article McKinsey & Co. worked with Russian weapons maker even as it advised Pentagon , NBC explored the question of McKinsey’s potential conflicts of interest. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., told NBC News that McKinsey has displayed a “pattern of behavior” in its consulting abroad and in Washington that raised “grave concerns about conflicts of interest.” McKinsey spokesperson Neil Grace is quoted: “McKinsey complies with all applicable U.S. contracting laws, including those regarding conflicts of interest.”

While McKinsey firewalls may prevent actual conflicts, given the unarguable relationship between McKinsey and fossil fuel giants was it good judgment for the Treasury to choose McKinsey as the consultant for their decarbonization plan?

Oregon is a state with a strong commitment to alleviate climate risk, as noted both by Treasurer Read in his press release about his decarbonization plan and in the Multnomah County lawsuit . Here are two Oregon agencies, both supported by public funds. The State Treasurer is aligning with Big Oil and its consultant firm that Multnomah County just sued. Does this make sense?

"Refreshing" or Green Washing?

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 22:50:21 GMT

I attended the July 19th OIC session with interest. I can understand why several Council members called the information provided by the consultant from Quantum Capital Management “refreshing” – he was quite comfortable with the idea that oil and gas must continue to be part of our global energy mix for decades to come. As CEO of a Private Equity firm heavily invested in oil and gas, it is perhaps not surprising that he paints a rosy picture of the future of his industry.

Several of his assumptions and claimed facts were questionable, however. Specifically:

“Responsibly sourced oil and gas”
Because the full energy transition requires $2T-$3T / year in global investment, oil and gas are required in our energy mix
Carbon capture technology is cheap and easily available; this will make oil and gas carbon-neutral
My children are angry at me, but responsible people must face the facts that oil and gas are necessary

First, my engineer husband reminds me that goodness always requires a benchmark: what scale are you using to measure it? The Quantum rep claimed that “responsibly sourced oil and gas are less polluting.” It is quite true that burning natural gas puts less particulate pollution into the air than coal or diesel fuel. However, methane – the primary natural gas – is one of the worst contributors of global-warming carbon. The IEA reports that methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperature. Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – are by far the largest contributor to global climate change , accounting for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Please also be aware that “responsibly sourced” is a known greenwashing term . It is part of the fossil fuel companies’ decades-long, highly-funded disinformation campaign – which has often been compared to the disinformation that tobacco companies deployed.

Second, let’s consider the Quantum rep’s assertion that because the full transition to green energy will take about $2-$3 trillion per year of new investment, with the implication that that simply won’t happen, therefore we must continue to invest in fossil fuels. You are in a position to make a very significant difference to that $2-$3 trillion dollar figure. You are investing billions of dollars a year into fossil fuel companies. If you moved those investments into green technologies and green fuels, then you would be moving this country and the world substantially in the direction of meeting that shortfall. This is not even a financially risky proposition – there are plenty of lucrative non-fossil fuel investment opportunities. You don’t need to take my word for it. Here is an article from the International Monetary Fund on how investment funds can drive the green transition.

Third, the Quantum rep’s blithe assurances that carbon capture can be inexpensively used to make oil and gas carbon-neutral. Let’s start with “inexpensive.” How does he know whether carbon capture technologies will be inexpensive? All carbon capture tech is still in research and initial rollout phases. Even with the coming massive IRA investment in such technologies, costs and effectiveness remain largely unproven. Second, even the IEA’s glowing report on carbon capture technologies admits “there is a very large range in costs,” and “CCUS [carbon capture, utilization and storage] deployment has been behind expectations in the past but momentum has grown substantially in recent years, with over 500 projects in various stages of development across the CCUS value chain. Nevertheless, even at such a level, CCUS deployment would remain well below what is required in the Net Zero Scenario.”

Certainly, carbon capture will be required in any scenario to reduce climate change. There is already far too much excess carbon in our atmosphere. But to assert that we can add more carbon with impunity because we will have carbon capture technology to take it out again is, at best, naïve.

Fourth, let’s address the Quantum rep’s reassurances to you that his daughter is angry with him because of his promotion of fossil fuels – with the comforting implication that responsible adults just carry on, even if the children don’t yet understand. I predict his grandchildren will be even angrier with him.

In December, 2021, The Lancet (an extremely respected medical journal) published an international study on young people’s feelings on climate change. Here are their findings: “Respondents across [10 countries, including the USA] were worried about climate change (59% were very or extremely worried and 84% were at least moderately worried). More than 50% reported each of the following emotions: sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty. More than 45% of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning, and many reported a high number of negative thoughts about climate change (eg, 75% said that they think the future is frightening and 83% said that they think people have failed to take care of the planet). Respondents rated governmental responses to climate change negatively and reported greater feelings of betrayal than of reassurance. Climate anxiety and distress were correlated with perceived inadequate government response and associated feelings of betrayal.”

As this month’s extreme global temperatures dramatically illustrate, the fatal consequences of climate change are already with us, and are accelerating. Sadly, these feelings of anger, anxiety, and betrayal are based on the abundant facts on the ground.

It is true that the problem of climate change is enormous. When we roll over and say “it’s too big, let’s ignore it and continue business as usual’ – then we make it even bigger.

What is perhaps most surprising is not that the CEO of an oil and gas investment firm would be bullish on its future, but that Treasurer Read and the OST would choose to have someone with clear and understandable biases present that case. The OIC deserves to hear unbiased and more balanced views of the future from someone not connected to the industry. A presentation by Ortec Finance who did a climate risk assessment for the OST might be a good first step in that direction.

Sincerely,

Elisabeth Genly

Member, Divest Oregon

PERS contributor and beneficiary

Oregon State Treasury Increases Investments in Fossil Fuel Companies

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 21:42:13 GMT

Oregon State Treasury (OST) investments in fossil fuels increased by 25% from 2021 to 2022 in the Oregon's Public Employees' Retirement Fund (OPERF) and the Oregon Short Term Fund (OSTF)

These decisions to increase fossil fuel exposure are contrary to the guidance given by Treasury’s own consultants who stated that investing more in fossil fuels increases long term risk and lowers returns.

After multiple public records requests by Divest Oregon, OST now publishes its public equity holdings and private investment funds on its website with values as of June 30 of each year. It publishes the information with a six or seven month lag. The latest data showed that fossil fuel holdings totalled $6.6 billion as of June 30, 2022 versus $5.3 billion for the same period the previous year.

The public equity investment increase included additional investment in existing holdings and new fossil fuel holdings. The Treasury also committed to make at least a further $2 billion worth of private investments in future years, under contracts that typically last a decade.

Our Methodology

Divest Oregon is a member of the Climate Safe Pensions Network (CSPN) which has over 20 pension divestment campaigns in the US. Through this network we partner with STAND.earth & Third Rail Economy to consolidate and analyze OST holdings.

Each OPERF and OSTF holding is given a fossil fuel grouping by our partners based on its activity. Of the $6.6 billion in fossil fuel holdings as of June 30, 2022, here is a breakdown by those groupings showing an increase in each:

Group 1: Production ($1.1 billion): Oil and gas producers & explorers, and coal companies. Vertically integrated oil/gas companies, meaning companies with oil/gas reserves as well as midstream or refining operations. It was $871 million as of June 30, 2021.

Group 2: Support ($450m): oilfield services/equipment companies, refiners, pipeline and other midstream companies. It was $432 million as of June 30, 2021.

Group 3: Utility ($1.7 billion): fossil fuel power producers, electric and gas utilities. Utilities with an obvious focus on renewable energy production were not flagged. It was $1.37 billion as of June 30, 2021.

Group 4: More Fossil Fuels ($3.3 billion): holdings in companies with obvious fossil fuel interests and actions not fitting easily into groups 1-3. It was $2.56 billion as of June 30, 2021. Holdings in fossil fuel energy private equity funds are assigned here. Diversified companies included on either the CU200 or GCEL lists are also assigned here.

Across all these groups, the investment in NEW fossil holdings from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022 totaled $310 million. Examples of these new holdings include:

China Coal & Oil Fields in which OST invested $2.6 million
Qatari energy groups received a $2.5 million investment.

Increases in fossil fuel holdings went up, not just increases in past holdings' share values. Following are just three examples of additional acquisitions in fossil fuel company shares:

Chevron CORP

264,204 shares on June 30, 2021 (valued then at $28 million) in OPERF Public Equity
605,422 shares on June 30, 2022 (valued then at $88 million) in OPERF Public Equity
There was no stock split.

BHP GROUP LTD

264,929 shares on June 30, 2021 (valued then at $9.6 million) in OPERF Public Equity
1,298,335 shares on June 30, 2022 (valued then at $37 million) in OPERF Public Equity
There was no stock split.

CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES

13,600 shares on June 30, 2021 ( valued then at $0.5 million) in OPERF Public Equity
545,158 shares on June 30, 2022 (valued then at $29 million) in OPERF Public Equity
There was no stock split.

Our information source is the OPERF Public Equity Portfolio details published on the OST website .

Determining OST’s New Private Investments in Fossil Fuel Funds

For holdings such as public equity and fixed income the Treasury provides each holding name and its market value. For private equity holdings Treasury provides each holding name and its capital commitment, total capital contributed, and “fair value”. It is important to track the amount of commitments OST makes to private equity funds. These commitments represent significant long term obligations that tie up OPERF funds for a decade or more, making it impossible to respond to developments like climate risks and geopolitical shifts.

One such example of OST’s new investments in fossil fuels include their $250M investment in Advent International GPE X in 2022. Advent has many fossil fuel companies in its portfolio including:

Oceana which is Colombia’s largest crude oil transportation system
BOS Solutions: Leading full-service provider of drilling fluid treatment and recovery solutions to oil and gas exploration and production companies
Bill Barrett Corp: a Colorado oil and gas exploration company.

Divest Oregon reviewed OIC meeting minutes to determine what additional private investment commitments have been made to funds that invest in fossil fuel since June 30, 2022. From July 2022 through March 2023 OST committed an additional $2 billion to private equity funds that had obvious investments in fossil fuels. The figure is likely much higher, but the secret nature of private equity funds makes it impossible to gather all the facts.

Four of the funds that enjoyed commitments by OST (Blackstone Energy Partners, Encap Flatrock Midstream, Global Infrastructure Partners, and NGP Natural Resources) are featured in the Private Equity Stakeholder Project’s (PESP) Private Equity Dirty Dozen report, which profiles some of the most destructive fossil fuel investments of the world’s top private equity firms. Divest Oregon has repeatedly pointed out the numerous problems with private equity, and published the report Oregon Treasury’s Private Investment Transparency Problem to provide more details to the public, especially PERS members. The secret nature of private equity poses a significant problem when assessing OST’s fossil fuel exposure because we are blocked from knowing the details of what each private equity fund invests in. Our analysis provides us with a representation of the private equity funds with known and significant fossil fuel exposure, but we know it is not all inclusive. There is more, and OST continues to invest significant PERS funds in fossil fuels.

Divest Oregon will continue its campaign to hold OST accountable for its risky fossil fuel investing and demand that decarbonization strategies be implemented immediately.

How is the OST investing the money you earned for retirement?

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 20:00:54 GMT

Here’s one example:

A 2023 investment brought the total amount the Oregon Treasury (OST) has committed to private equity firm NGP Energy Capital’s oil and gas Funds to $1.2 BILLION since 2012 .

NGP is a Carlyle Group subsidiary.

NGP continues to expand its upstream investments (exploration and production companies) with a current portfolio of around 20 oil and gas companies with operations in multiple states – like Tap Rock Resources in New Mexico, whose impacts fall disproportionately on communities of color.

Carlyle Group holds a majority stake in Private Equity company NGP. A new investigation released by Private Equity Stakeholder Project – which provides the content of this update – reveals that the Carlyle Group (Carlyle), a private equity titan with $373 billion in assets under management, has been quietly scooping up fossil fuel assets over the past decade, in contravention of its stated climate goals . Its billions of dollars of investment in fossil fuel assets produced an estimated 277 million metric tons of CO2 emissions over just ten years, as much as the “carbon bomb” that Alaska’s Willow arctic drilling project is set to emit in its entire lifetime.

Carlyle’s estimated $22.4 billion fossil fuel portfolio also exposes its own investors to a range of climate-related risks, and its lack of comprehensive disclosures prevents the public, regulators, and investors from being able to adequately assess and mitigate those risks.

“The capital Carlyle has used to bloat their massive fossil fuel portfolio has come off the backs of public employee pension funds, university endowments, and other institutional investors,” said Amanda Mendoza, climate researcher at Private Equity Stakeholder Project.

Carlyle stands out among large diversified private equity firms as having one of the largest energy portfolios, mostly devoted to fossil fuels. Its portfolio has approximately $22.4 billion in carbon-based energy companies and only an estimated $1.4 billion committed to renewable and sustainable energy companies—less than 1 percent of total assets under management.

“It was eye-opening to uncover the sheer amount of gas-fired power plant capacity that Carlyle owns through their portfolio companies. It ranks as one of the largest owners of gas plants in the United States, yet the average rate payer likely has no idea who Carlyle is or how to hold it accountable,” said Alex Hurley, research analyst at Global Energy Monitor. “It was also shocking to review the number of pollution-related violations recorded by the EPA for the Carlyle power plant fleet, many of which are located steps away from low-income communities and communities of color who bear that impact.”

Regrettably, Carlyle is far from the only private equity firm with ongoing investments in oil and gas. Since 2010, at least $1.1 trillion has been channeled into oil and gas exploration, extraction, pipelines, and power plants worldwide. Private equity firms often adopt strategies like saddling portfolio companies with debt and implementing aggressive cost-cutting measures, which force these companies to take excessive risks in pursuit of rapid profit growth. These companies then struggle to operate when resources that should have been allocated to capital improvements, maintenance, environmental safeguards, asset retirement and remediation, or decarbonization are instead redirected to Wall Street investors.

Was Carlyle and its subsidiary a good choice even on a management level? A May 2023 update stated, " Carlyle Group fundraising drops by half as head of private equity, other executives depart ."

Although this is a private equity firm/fund (see its website ), OST posted this investment in its “Alternatives” Asset Class: see NGP Energy Capital Natural Resources and Royalty Partners funds . While the Private Equity Asset Class holds about a quarter of OPERF investments, OST has private investments in most of its asset classes and the private investment total is over half of OPERF. We’ll continue to provide information on other private equity investments OST chose to make, as we manage to obtain information on these black-box funds.

REPORT: Oregon Treasury falling short on human rights, ESG metrics

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 21:02:51 GMT

Portland, OR -- The Oregon State Treasury is falling short when it comes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, concluded a new report released today by the Divest Oregon coalition, with supporting analysis from the United Nations (UN). “ Oregon Treasury’s ESG Investment Failure ” features case studies and details how the Treasury’s investments in oil, gas, and coal projects are linked to human rights violations, community destruction, and climate chaos. ESG metrics are increasingly used by asset managers and investors to screen investments based on risk and corporate practice. Investments causing devastation of communities and the environment are red flags for risky financial performance.

“From Uganda and Myanmar to our own backyard, the Oregon State Treasury is continuing to invest in companies engaged in high-risk oil, gas, and coal projects that are financially questionable and incompatible with a human rights agenda and ESG principles,” said Jenifer Schramm, co-lead of the Divest Oregon coalition. “You don’t have to just take our word for it: the UN places Oregon’s Treasury at the bottom of its ranking of big pension funds.”

In 2021, the United Nations ranked public pension funds by ESG standards and Oregon’s Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) ranked 46th out of 47 funds. The UN reviewers flagged the following issues with OPERF:

no use of any ESG screens for actual investment decisions
no stated targets / goals for ESG investing
no specific sector strategies (e.g., renewable energy)
no climate risk metric monitoring or reporting of the use of specific climate targets / goals
no evaluation or auditing of its ESG performance with specific metrics
no evidence of any team dedicated to coordinate ESG investments

Oregon has a single large fund – 12th largest in the country – giving it significant market presence. OPERF was rated at the bottom in its ESG performance, 46th out of the 47 funds that were analyzed and just above a sovereign fund in the United Arab Emirates.

AFT-Oregon President Jaime Rodriguez said, “At last year’s Oregon AFL-CIO convention, AFT-Oregon’s executive council submitted a resolution, ‘ Protecting the Human Rights of Unions, Activists, and Journalists Abroad .’ By approving this resolution, the Oregon AFL-CIO resolved to ‘encourage the implementation of a human rights screening for all future investments’ and ‘advocate for legislation, and to strengthen existing state laws to protect human rights at home and abroad, as related to Oregon’s financial investments.’ We share the concerns raised by Divest Oregon’s ESG report. As beneficiaries, we expect that the Treasury and OIC will start doing a better job of screening and removing PERS members’ investments from those companies with egregious environmental and human rights abuses.”

The report documents Oregon Treasury investments in highly polluting and destructive projects such as:

EACOP: a crude oil pipeline that is displacing 118,000 people and threatens wetlands, wildlife, and fresh water sources that support millions of Africans
Gavin Power Plant: one of the largest US coal plants which caused the “demise of an entire community”
Willow Project: an oil extraction project that won’t produce oil until 2027 at the earliest, in a pristine wilderness which supports a fragile way of life for Indigenous people; an investment in continued use of fossil fuels for decades even as the ability to extract oil is threatened by climate change

In his inaugural address in 2016, State Treasurer Tobias Read committed to “always invest for the long term” to “address challenges that, if ignored, will impact all Oregonians,” specifically citing “an environment and economy threatened by climate change” as one of those “challenges.” This spring, Treasurer Read lobbied to undermine HB2601, which would have encouraged more transparency and accountability in the management of Oregon’s investments and stopped new fossil fuel investment.

“The Oregon Treasury must invest in non-destructive funds to reduce its harm to communities and procure a green future for generations,” said Susan Palmiter, co-lead of the Divest Oregon coalition. “Divestment from fossil fuels would help solve the Treasury's risky business practices. Removing fossil fuel investments from the portfolio would also be good for returns as recommended in the Treasury’s own commissioned Ortec reports on the climate risk to the PERS portfolio. It’s not if the Oregon Treasury will divest. It’s when - and how much they will lose before they do.”

Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network commented, “COIN is grateful for the work that Divest Oregon has done to gather the information for this report, and for their continuing effort to hold Oregon's Treasury Department accountable for investments that worsen the climate crisis, threaten the health and well being of people around the world, and negatively impact Oregon's Public Employee Retirement System.”

“The Oregon Treasury is the 12th largest pension fund in the country, and they continue to invest hundreds of millions in new fossil fuel investments.” said Bill McKibben, 350.org and Third Act co-founder. “Divest Oregon is exposing the harm those investments cause because teachers and firefighters don’t want their retirement used to cause climate chaos, to force people off their land, or to destroy the clean water and air of their community. Business as usual is ecocide and this report — ‘Oregon Treasury’s ESG Investment Failure’— calls it out.”

Notes:

Treasury’s Ortec Climate Risk Reports can only be found at Divest Oregon’s web site: https://www.divestoregon.org/climaterisk. These Treasury reports were procured through a lengthy public records request process.
AFT-OR is an affiliate of the Oregon AFL-CIO, the statewide federation of labor unions representing over 300,000 working Oregonians.

Blast from the Past: Margaret Thatcher on Climate & the Free Market

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 17:11:32 GMT

Today’s blog is brought to you by Margaret Thatcher, who addressed the UN General Assembly in 1989. Excerpts follow.

What we are now doing to the world, by degrading the land surfaces, by polluting the waters and by adding greenhouse gases to the air at an unprecedented rate—all this is new in the experience of the earth. It is mankind and his activities which are changing the environment of our planet in damaging and dangerous ways.

It is of course true that none of us would be here but for the greenhouse effect. It gives us the moist atmosphere which sustains life on earth. We need the greenhouse effect—but only in the right proportions.

Put in its bluntest form: the main threat to our environment is more and more people, and their activities: The land they cultivate ever more intensively; The forests they cut down and burn; The mountain sides they lay bare; The fossil fuels they burn; The rivers and the seas they pollute.

The result is that change in future is likely to be more fundamental and more widespread than anything we have known hitherto. Change to the sea around us, change to the atmosphere above, leading in turn to change in the world's climate, which could alter the way we live in the most fundamental way of all.

That prospect is a new factor in human affairs. It is comparable in its implications to the discovery of how to split the atom. Indeed, its results could be even more far-reaching.

It is no good squabbling over who is responsible or who should pay. Whole areas of our planet could be subject to drought and starvation if the pattern of rains and monsoons were to change as a result of the destruction of forests and the accumulation of greenhouse gases.

We have to look forward not backward and we shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international, co-operative effort.

We should always remember that free markets are a means to an end. They would defeat their object if by their output they did more damage to the quality of life through pollution than the well-being they achieve by the production of goods and services. [our emphasis]

Mr President, the environmental challenge which confronts the whole world demands an equivalent response from the whole world. Every country will be affected and no one can opt out.

Reason is humanity's special gift. It allows us to understand the structure of the nucleus. It enables us to explore the heavens. It helps us to conquer disease. Now we must use our reason to find a way in which we can live with nature, and not dominate nature.

We need our reason to teach us today that we are not, that we must not try to be, the lords of all we survey.

We are not the lords, we are the Lord's creatures, the trustees of this planet, charged today with preserving life itself—preserving life with all its mystery and all its wonder.

May we all be equal to that task.

Oregon Treasury gets an F in United Nations’ ESG report card

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 16:32:55 GMT

PERS scores 46th out of 47 major funds, just above UAE fund

In his inaugural address as Treasurer in 2016, Tobias Read committed to “always invest for the long term” to “address challenges that, if ignored, will impact all Oregonians,” specifically citing “an environment and economy threatened by climate change” as one of those “challenges.”

He followed up in 2017 by having the Legislature approve Oregon’s first investment officer focused on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors “in pursuit of improved sustainability metrics, more transparent financial reporting, and ways to integrate what we learn into how we make decisions.” In September 2018, he further convened an Oregon Sustainable Investing Summit, with keynotes from national financial leaders, highlights of OST renewable investments, and a discussion of “how Treasury evaluates climate risk,” among other topics, which was published in a 2017 “Corporate Governance and ESG Stewardship” report.

What has the Oregon Treasury accomplished in the 5 years since this early ESG commitment?

The United Nations recently published a 2021 ESG report card on the world’s top asset funds. Oregon’s Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF) was included along with 47 of the world’s top 100 funds that report on their ESG efforts. Unlike many states with multiple separate state pension funds for state employees (firefighters, teachers, government workers, etc.) Oregon has a single large fund – 12th largest in the country – giving it significant market presence. PERF was rated at the bottom in its ESG performance, 46th out of the 47, just above a sovereign fund in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Oregon’s PERF was credited for achieving 9 out of the 25 performance areas. These included:

having a clearly stated ESG mission and vision
adopting international standards or benchmarks and joining an international climate response initiative
committing to integrating ESG issues in investment decisions
actively engaging with companies through stockholder voting

What was found lacking was the operationalization of OST’s stated commitments. The UN reviewers found:

no use of any ESG screens for actual investment decisions
no evidence of any team dedicated to coordinate ESG investments
no stated targets / goals for ESG investing
no specific sector strategies (eg renewable energy)
no climate risk metric monitoring or reporting of the use of specific climate targets / goals
no evaluation or auditing of its ESG performance with specific metrics

Indeed, this picture is very consistent with the Treasury’s response to Divest Oregon's demand for climate action. The Treasury commissioned and then buried their own two climate risk reports showing significant losses to Treasury from holding vs divesting from fossil fuel investments; they opposed 2022 legislation to bring greater transparency to Treasury’s fossil fuel holdings; they opposed 2023 legislation calling on them to make no new fossil fuel investments and fully report those they have; and, just recently, they have committed another half billion dollars to private, illiquid funds with fossil fuel exposure.

Treasurer Read has now committed to presenting a “ decarbonization plan ” to the Oregon Investment Council by February 2024. As he approaches the end of his final term as Treasurer, Read has the opportunity to deliver on the promise he made at his inauguration in 2017: to “address challenges that, if ignored, will impact all Oregonians” – through measurable action and not just words, hopefully soon. As the latest 2023 IPCC report reminds us, time is fast running out.

For a full report about the Oregon State Treasury’s failings to implement ESG, see the upcoming Divest Oregon report to be released April 19, 2023.

Divest Oregon Responds to Oregon Political Establishment Undermining HB 2601

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 17:39:49 GMT

Salem, OR -- Despite overwhelming public support for the 2023 Oregon Treasury Investment and Climate Act (HB 2601), the Oregon State Treasury publicly opposed the transparency legislation and successfully lobbied behind the scenes to stop the bill. HB 2601 --- Willamette Week’s “ Bill of the Week ” -- was designed to address the financial risks posed by climate change while promoting accountability in the management of Oregon’s investments. With scientists delivering a “ final warning ” about failed global climate leadership in this week’s UN IPCC report, the campaign to monitor Oregon’s money and hold public officials accountable for real climate action will continue with urgency, said Divest Oregon.

“Rather than exercise their legislative independence and risk challenging the status quo, some lawmakers in Salem caved to pressure from the Oregon State Treasury and, presumably, the various special interests behind the Treasury that have no interest in publicizing where exactly our money is going,” said Susan Palmiter, Divest Oregon’s campaign co-lead. “Treasurer Tobias Read spent time and energy, on the taxpayer’s dime, to lobby legislators, public agencies, and labor unions to block HB 2601 which was, at the core, a bill about accountability. Should state agencies be lobbying against their own oversight?”

In 2015, Oregon received an “F” ranking in state integrity , with poor marks for political financing, executive accountability, and state pension fund management. Many of these dynamics are still at play: this year, the state was rocked by “bourbon gate,” which saw corrupt public officials hoarding rare bottles of booze and, in 2022, the Oregon State Treasury itself came under international scrutiny for investing in the NSO Group , whose signature product was used to spy on dissidents, activists, journalists, and diplomats.

“Oregonians deserve better governance and political leadership that reflects their concerns and demands,” said Jenifer Schramm, Divest Oregon co-lead. “Those that manage our investments might not be stashing away bourbon, but what exactly are they hiding? The campaign for climate justice, retirement security, transparency, and public accountability is just beginning. With the right leadership and financial foresight, Oregon will exit from fossil fuels: the question is will it be too late?”

To date, over 1,550 institutions representing over $40 trillion in assets have already committed to fossil fuel divestment. Divest Oregon is a grassroots coalition of 100 organizations across the state, including unions with 66,000 PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth-led movements, and faith communities.

Whose money supports ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project? Your money: The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 00:00:48 GMT

The Willow project that President Biden has green lighted is funded by ConocoPhillips. The Oregon Treasury’s investment in ConocoPhillips is $37.8 million as of June 30, 2022 .

The Willow project illustrates the financial riskiness of the Treasury’s fossil fuel investment returns and the risks to human rights that many fossil fuel companies create.

ConocoPhillips is one of the companies highlighted in the Divest Oregon report to be released April 19, 2023: “Oregon Treasury’s Human Rights Problem: Fossil Fuel Companies Creating Risk to PERS”

Commentary in Capital Chronicle: Proposal to divest pension funds of fossil fuel holdings is financially responsible

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:07:15 GMT

Commentary in Oregon Capital Chronicle by Pete Farrelly (Feb 28, 2023)

A trio of state lawmakers want Oregon’s pension funds divested of fossil fuel holdings.

House Bill 2601 , as reported by Alex Baumhardt of the Capital Chronicle, would require the Treasury to disclose all of its investment holdings and to stop investing in “carbon-intensive” holdings, defined as investments in coal, oil and gas companies, and providers of equipment, services, transportation or storage related to oil and gas.

The legislation, backed by state Democratic Reps. Khanh Pham of outer Southeast Portland and Mark Gamba of Milwaukie and Democratic Sen. Jeff Golden of Ashland, is an evidence-based, financially responsible solution that would prudently manage climate and transition risks and protect the PERS retirement fund from the inevitable downturn Treasury’s own consultants predict.

But Oregon’s Treasury is against the divestment of state pension or PERS funds. Treasurer Tobias Read’s alternative solution, his “2050 Net Zero” plan, is based on disproven, yet well-intentioned, carbon accounting techniques or unproven technologies.

Though today’s climate denialists no longer show off snowballs in the U.S. Senate to claim climate change is a “hoax,” they use jargon to indicate action while actually doing very little. Read’s “2050 Net Zero” plan proposes just that: very little.

First the plan would punt the problem to 2050. Also, his plan would begin as soon as his term ends in 2024. Thirdly, he kicks the can to a “Net Zero” world where currently insignificant carbon capture technologies would magically improve enough to save the planet just in the nick of time so we can keep emitting billions of tons of carbon every year now. (All while solar and wind energy are cheaper than fossil energy today.) The “Net Zero” approach also relies on tree-planting offsets that counter-intuitively do not help reduce atmospheric carbon.

The Treasury and the Oregon Investment Council “ set and monitor portfolio risk. Both short and long term risks are critical. ” However, it appears that they ignore the climate and transition risks the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed to regulate last March . New York’s pension plan manages these growing portfolio risks and began divestment years ago. As Tom Sanzillo, New York’s former comptroller, testified in a recent hearing: The Treasury’s approach is “out-moded, uniformed and out of date,” while HB 2601’s plan is “clear and decisive and well-trodden by others.”

Read’s supporters testified that we should trust his plan, without any supporting evidence. The Treasurer’s letter to legislators simply claimed that better returns without the fossil industry are “pure fiction.” Meanwhile, as Pham testified, the fossil industry (before the Ukrainian invasion) has declined for a decade . As Sanzillo testified, every financial manager has low/no carbon investing options, and that $40 trillion have already been divested .

It is important to understand another fact that may explain the lip service PERS members and legislators are fed about their retirement security: Read’s and investment managers’ jobs are naturally motivated by short-term incentives focusing primarily on the next election or next quarter’s profits. PERS members’ incentives, however, are long term. That could explain why the Treasury appears to be ignoring its own consultant’s Climate Scan Report , and why it took a watchdog group, Divest Oregon, a year of wrangling and public records’ requests to gather relevant information. A treasurer‘s fiduciary responsibility necessitates trust, and everyone agrees that a little more transparency increases that trust.

Climate change is an extraordinary and costly challenge to Oregonians. The fossil industry buys our politicians to continue sucking up billions in federal government subsidies annually, and worse, wrongfully externalizes pollution and clean-up costs to us taxpayers from their turbo-charged wildfires and megastorms that tear through our homes and infrastructure. As Gamba testified, climate change impacts will eventually damage Oregon’s agricultural economy in the same negative ways that Californians are beginning to face now. So let’s stop investing in the companies that knowingly accelerate those impacts. (See a similar example in Texas )

So let us protect Oregon and the PERS retirement fund by investing in climate solutions. And let’s discontinue investing in destructive forces in Oregon. Divestment is not a panacea. It’s a start.

The next hearing is slated for Thursday at 1 pm.

Pete Farrelly, a former Oregon Savings Growth Plan Advisory Committee chair, is an engineer at the Oregon Health Authority.

Carbon Underground 200 - Why is Oregon Invested in the Worst of the Worst Polluters?

Sat, 25 Feb 2023 00:38:16 GMT

The Carbon Underground 200 (CU200) list identifies the top 200 global publicly-listed coal, oil, and gas reserves owners ranked by the carbon emissions embedded in their reserves. The list is identified by Fossil Free Investment (FFI) Solutions . FFI was founded in 2013 with the mission to kickstart the development of fossil free investment products. Use of an internationally recognized list like the CU200 for decarbonizing investments enables decision-makers to move quickly and transparently in reaching divestment objectives.

Oregon’s public equity holdings as of June 2021 show that Oregon State Treasury (OST) has invested $435m in coal companies and $627m in oil/gas companies that are on the CU 200 list.

HB2601 requires OST to exit from carbon-intensive investments, using the CU200 list of companies, across all publicly traded OST funds within 6 months. It will also use the list to ensure a moratorium is applied on new public or private carbon-intensive investments.

OST has a precedence for using this list. Oregon public universities requested to have the Treasury-invested public university fund, known as the Common University Fund, include a Carbon Underground investment restriction. Treasury staff recommended that OIC approve use of the CU 200 for this purpose in 2019.

This update is part of a series that focuses on key elements of HB2601, The Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act ( TICPA ). It covers what the Carbon Underground 200 (CU200) list is, why it is relevant to Oregonians and why it is included in HB2601.

Treasury has not been closely scrutinized in recent years

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 17:12:48 GMT

The following is testimony was given in support of HB 2601 on Feb 16, 2023 to the House Committee On Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans . You can read the 170+ submissions of written testimony submitted here .

My name is Rick Pope. I am a retired member of the Oregon State Bar and a PERS contingent beneficiary. I am speaking on behalf of Divest Oregon that includes unions with 66,000 PERS members and 100 statewide coalition organizations with youth, elders, faith communities, and racial justice groups.

A trustee has the duty of highest candor. We are not getting candor from the Treasury team. Why aren’t we?

1. All the while it claimed divestment is imprudent, Treasury did not release from an ongoing public records request its own expert’s “deep dive” study that says the exact opposite. The suppressed report says in any scenario of energy transition, fossil fuel divestment from public equities alone would generate $500 million to $1.4 billion more for OPERF over 5 to 20 years. It also ranked fossil fuels at the top of overall future investment risks for OPERF. Why didn’t the Treasury team use any of their time to explain this report to this committee last week? Why do PERS beneficiaries have to try to do it in 2 minute sound bites?

2. Treasury’s retained climate expert warned 17 months ago of substantial risk to OPERF from climate change. The Treasurer says he cares deeply. But Treasury’s investment bureaucracy ignored climate risks and opportunities in OPERF’s latest strategic asset allocation. And Treasury has no documented climate-specific policy for how to address climate risks in OPERF’s portfolio.

3. The Treasurer claims that OPERF is a No. 1 performer for 2022-implying don’t mess with success. But national figures for earlier years show OPERF is below average among top tier plans. Why this difference? The claimed performance bump results from a temporary artificial bubble in private investments. All your witnesses last week –the Treasurer, Rex Kim, and Kevin Olineck of PERS–know the bubble will pop in coming quarters. They’ve been told that the last three Oregon Investment Council meetings. Their claim shows much more about their lack of candor to the Legislature than it does about OPERF’s performance.

4. Treasury staff doesn’t want to be constrained by statute-who does? But staff needs to understand who sets policy. For a salient example, OPERF's large amounts of high-risk private equity investments for years have been far above the policy target established by the Oregon Investment Council. Staff’s response boils down to “so what?”

5. The Treasurer says a complicated and time consuming decarbonization review of OPERF is the way to go. But Treasury and the OIC can’t execute their current review responsibilities. They are already 2½ years overdue on a regular comprehensive audit of its investment policies, practices and specific investments that is mandated by statute. There is no end in sight to the delay.

6. And our Treasury has not had a fully functional audit program since December 2018, perhaps because it wouldn’t our couldn’t retain a Chief Audit Executive. That’s a pre-Covid failure.

7. The Treasurer claims fossil fuel divestment would violate his fiduciary duty. He omitted to tell you the Treasury has been investing the $360 million state Public University Fund under fossil-free restrictions, a form of divestment, since 2019.

8. Finally, three Oregon Attorney General opinions, four statutes, one OIC formal divestment policy, the Treasury’s 2016 investment audit, and ERISA regulations for private pensions all permit consideration of social issues in pension investing so long as there is equal or greater economic value. And the only data that’s been put on the table shows fossil fuel divestment is a money maker for OPERF.

Thank you for working to bring greater transparency and accountability to the Oregon Treasury for PERS beneficiaries and all Oregonians.

Oregon Education Association says "Pass this bill!"

annamnorm61@gmail.com (Anna Norman) — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 21:35:17 GMT

Funding businesses that routinely violate human rights should be avoided or rectified when discovered, says OEA resolution

The following testimony was provided by Oregon Education Association Regional Vice President, Stephen Siegel, in support of HB 2601 at the public hearing in the House Committee On Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans on Feb 16, 2023. Listen to the entire hearing here: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/mediaplayer/?clientID=4879615486&eventID=2023021211

Good afternoon. My name is Stephen Siegel. I’m a special education teacher and one of three regional vice presidents for the Oregon Education Association. I’m here today to speak in favor of House Bill 2601, the Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act.

I’m here today both as an individual and as a representative of OEA and its 40,000 members: teachers, librarians, counselors, educational assistants, custodians, and community college faculty, from every city and every town across the state.

Our work as educators is to help prepare young people to go out into the world and live happy, fulfilling and productive lives. But i don’t see how that will be possible for them if we continue responding to the increasing threats of climate disaster at the glacial pace we’re currently moving at. It’s time to kick things into high gear, not set goals for 2050. That’s just inexcusable.

Last April, OEA added a powerful new resolution to its guiding documents. It states that we believe “there should be ethical, moral, and transparent professional standards of conduct for how members’s retirement money is invested,” and that “those standards should not be overshadowed by a desire for a high return on investment. Funding businesses that routinely violate human rights (and make no mistake, that definitely includes fossil fuel companies) should be avoided or rectified when discovered.”

The irony here is that it’s not even a choice anymore between what is profitable and what is moral and just. Investments in the fossil fuel industry are neither. So there really are no more excuses. Please recognize the urgency for taking action, for divesting from fossil fuel and adopting new standards for transparency. Pass this bill.

Is OPERF really beating the market? Or is the Treasury just hiding risk?

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 04:36:12 GMT

At the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans on 2/9/2023, Treasurer Read announced that the Oregon Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF) was the “#1 performing fund in fiscal year 2022” and “over the past 20 years.”

This statement poses a question: How did OPERF suddenly beat the market with such “exceptional results?”

As reported in the industry publication, Pensions and Investments (1), OPERF did better while other state funds had negative returns, not because of doing better in publicly traded equities (stocks), which lost money even for OPERF (-13.3%) -- but because of its relative overweight of high risk “alternative” funds. 60% of OPERF is now held through alternative private contracts, such as investments in private equity, hedge funds, commodities, and real estate / infrastructure, with only around a quarter (2) in lower risk publicly traded equities. This level of high risk private investment is almost twice as high as most other state pension plans (34%%) (3)

Importantly, the value of these private investments and their returns is set, not by the market, but by “expert appraisals that may differ meaningfully from the true market value. (4) ” Because of private contract fee structures and incentives, such appraisals tend to overstate value and respond only slowly to market trends. For the 2022 fiscal year, OPERF showed (5) a 29.6% return on real estate, a 24% return for private equity, and 23% return for other real assets, all values set not by the market, but by asset managers who garner their fees based on returns.

Bottom line : While other state pension plans with larger exposures to public equity showed losses as the market dropped, OPERF continued to report inflated values for its large portfolio of protected private investments, inflating its returns, and suddenly making it appear “the #1 performing fund” for fiscal year 2022.

Does this matter to the legislature? Treasury’s latest PERS By the Numbers report (6) (December 2022) projects that OPERF’s funded status will decrease from 86.4% in 2021 to 79.1% in 2022 with the unfunded actuarial liability increasing from 20% to 26.6%.

As the Equable Institute (7) points out in their report “State of Pensions 2022: National Pension Funding Trends,” state pension plans have not recovered to their pre 2008 recession level of 93.8% funding and face a future of “muted returns.” They emphasize that the system remains “fragile” – faced with inflation and geopolitical instability -- and that the threat of legislatures having to face the politically fraught and contentious process of increasing contributions or cutting benefits can only be mitigated by intense risk management.

PERS beneficiary will be glad to hear when the plan does well – although Treasurer Read did not report that six months later, at the end of the calendar year, OPERF reported a yearly total loss of 1.55%. (8)

PERS members will be more reassured when there is an honest and transparent presentation of the obvious risks the plan faces, supported by data, with specific plans to manage those risks. For me, this is not only financial market risk but also includes climate risk, such as was presented to Treasury in November 2022 by the ORTEC climate risk assessment report they commissioned but seem to have ignored for now over a year.

Support HB 2601 to bring an increased level of transparency, accountability, and risk management to our State Treasury. Glossing over the risks that are increasingly well documented in the pension industry is perhaps the greatest risk of all to the future of PERS, its beneficiaries and contributors. We need legislation to make sure that does not happen.

1 https://www.pionline.com/pension-funds/oregon-public-employees-pension-fund-returns-63-strength-private-equity

2 https://www.oregon.gov/treasury/invested-for-oregon/Documents/Invested-for-OR-Performance-and-Holdings/2022/OPERF-12312022.pdf

3 https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IB_22-20.pdf

4 https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IB_22-20.pdf

5 https://www.pionline.com/pension-funds/oregon-public-employees-pension-fund-returns-63-strength-private-equity

6 https://www.oregon.gov/pers/Documents/General-Information/PERS-by-the-Numbers.pdf

7 https://equable.org/pension-funding-trends-2022/

8 https://www.oregon.gov/treasury/invested-for-oregon/Documents/Invested-for-OR-Performance-and-Holdings/2022/OPERF-12312022.pdf

Oregon lawmakers, grassroots organizations push for evidence-based, financially responsible climate bill to protect state's investments and retirees

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 19:56:04 GMT

Oregon lawmakers, grassroots organizations push for evidence-based, financially responsible climate bill to protect state's investments and retirees.

Salem, OR -- The 2023 Oregon Treasury Investment and Climate Act (HB 2601) addresses the major financial risks posed by climate change and fossil fuel investments, while promoting accountability in the management of Oregon’s investments, said Divest Oregon. State Treasurer Tobias Read has defended the state’s fossil fuel holdings , despite the risks flagged by the Oregon State Treasury’s own consultants and the Treasurer’s release of a long-term decarbonization timeline . The first public hearing for HB 2601 will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2023 in Salem.

State Representatives Pham (HD36), Dexter (HD33), and Gamba (HD41) and State Senator Golden (SD3) are sponsoring HB 2601, which will put a moratorium on new carbon-intensive investments made by the Oregon State Treasury and establish a timeline for the Treasury to drop its carbon-intensive holdings. As part of this decarbonization process, HB 2601 also requires the Treasury to disclose its holdings and show its progress to lawmakers and the public. The Treasury manages $137 billion, with most of this in the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS).

“This bill is about preparing Oregonians for a financial future shaped by the ongoing transition to clean energy,” said Chris Abbruzzese, an Oregon-based investor and former financial risk manager . “Fossil fuels are currently being phased out globally, yet the Oregon State Treasury continues to invest in these assets, oftentimes through contracts that extend beyond 10 years. By the time climate change becomes a defining issue for financial valuation, it may be too late to eliminate these investments from the PERS portfolio. PERS fiduciaries, like the Treasurer and members of the Oregon Investment Council, serve for four-year terms, a time horizon that is too short given the longer-term issues at hand. As such, we need legislators to act now to limit these actors’ ability to be seduced by short-term returns at the expense of beneficiaries’ longer-term best interests. This bill acknowledges this fiduciary disconnect and protects retirees’ long-term interests as required by Oregon law with an appropriate level of urgency.”

The Oregon State Treasury, which is responsible for the pensions of 393,080 Oregonians , has at least $5.3 billion invested in fossil fuel companies. The Treasury is notable for its large interest in private investment funds by contracted managers, including over a quarter in Treasury's private equity class alone. How those outside managers invest this money is kept from public disclosure by state law . Many private equity funds are heavily invested in fossil fuels . As the world transitions to new energy sources, investors left holding stock in fossil fuel companies -- or locked into 10-12 year contracts with private equity firms -- face the likelihood of these investments becoming riskier, or even worthless, over time .

“Unfortunately, risk to the PERS portfolio because of climate change is not theoretical,” said Susan Palmiter, volunteer Co-lead of Divest Oregon. “We saw how holding on to risky investments for too long results in losses. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Oregon State Treasury was left with worthless stock in Russian companies.”

A February 2022 report prepared by Ortec Finance, contracted by the Oregon State Treasury, demonstrates the "significant negative impacts" of retaining fossil-fuel holdings. The report, which was released to Divest Oregon after the Treasurer wrote to the Oregon legislature in January 2023, shows that the baseline loss over the next 5 years for not divesting from PERS fossil fuel holdings would be 14.5% in a "disorderly [energy] transition" (the current state of affairs).

The report also points out that switching out all of the Treasury's public equity holdings in fossil fuel companies would be a positive move in the next 5 years. This corroborates the findings of Divest Oregon’s “Risky Business” report (April 2022) that determined PERS underperformed by $4-10 billion in the past decade due to the drag by fossil fuel investments. In the past decade, this is a loss of up to $6,000 for each PERS retiree per year.

“The Treasurer is treating this time of upheaval as business as usual. He is resisting HB 2601 despite the mounting evidence of long-term decline in the value of fossil fuel investments, his public support for decarbonization of the Treasury investments, the losses that PERS retirees have experienced over the past decade, and the recommendations of his own consultants,” said Jenifer Schramm, volunteer Co-lead of Divest Oregon. “In fact, the Treasury has even made new long-term fossil fuel investments to the tune of half a billion dollars in the month since the bill became public. Rather than obstructing this effort, the Treasury could use this bill to show his support for evidenced-based, financially responsible investing.”

Oregon’s PERS performance lags behind peers, both in terms of real returns and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Of the top 15 largest US public pension funds, the 5- and 10-year returns for PERS are near the bottom of the pack.

Of these large pension funds, PERS has the highest exposure to private equity investments, which are opaque and difficult to exit quickly . According to the Pew Research Center these types of “ risky, high-fee assets … must be scrutinized for transparent reporting .”

“This bill is as much about accountability and transparency, as it is about financial responsibility and climate-smart investing,” said Andrew Bogrand, volunteer Communications Director of Divest Oregon. “Not only does Oregon’s legislature need to mandate an end to new fossil fuel investments and a phased approach to decarbonization, but it must play an oversight role. Discrepancies and public records delays suggest a lack of transparency, as do risky and questionable holdings. HB 2601 will better ensure accountability and help align our state’s investments with our state’s values.”

The Oregon State Treasury has come under national scrutiny for investing in the NSO Group , a spyware company which was blacklisted by the US government after revelations emerged that its signature product was used to spy on dissidents, activists, and diplomats. According to the United Nations , the Treasury also ranks 46th out of 47th for ESG investing among large public pensions. Poor ESG ratings are linked to poor financial performance. According to McKinsey , “paying attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns does not compromise returns — rather, the opposite.”

“A close look at coal, oil and gas portfolio performance provides overwhelming financial evidence that the industry has declined precipitously and that the outlook for oil and gas companies is negative,” said Tom Sanzillo, past Deputy Comptroller of New York State, and Director of Financial Analysis at IEEFA. “In the past 12 years, the MSCI All-Country World Index (ACWI) without fossil fuels outperformed the MSCI ACWI with fossil fuels. The gap exists even after accounting for the substantial oil price increases that occurred after the invasion of Ukraine.”

To date, over 1,550 institutions representing over $40 trillion in assets have already committed to fossil fuel divestment. HB 2601 is supported by dozens of grassroots organizations across the state, including unions with PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth-led movements, and faith communities.

–ENDS–

Notes to editors:

For more on the 2023 Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act, see: https://www.divestoregon.org/treasury-investment-and-climate-protection-act.
For more on the private investments by the Oregon Treasury, see: https://www.divestoregon.org/treasurys-private-investment-problem-report
Divest Oregon is a statewide grassroots coalition of individuals and 99 organizations representing unions with tens of thousands of PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities urging Oregon to divest fossil fuels.
Divest Oregon is a member of the North America-wide Climate Safe Pensions Network , a network of more than 25 grassroots communities demanding public pension funds divest from fossil fuels and invest in climate-safe solutions.

Is the Oregon Treasury Really Serious about “Decarbonization?”

Sat, 04 Feb 2023 00:09:11 GMT

Just two and half months after Treasurer Read announced that the Oregon State Treasury (OST) was committed to “decarbonizing OST’s portfolio, consistent with our fiduciary duty…to responsibly respond to emerging climate-related risks,” Read's Chief Financial Officer, Rex Kim, reported the private equity ventures in which Treasury invested in the past month. Treasurer Read admitted that two of them “have oil and gas exposure.” We think that they are the following funds, totalling over half a billion dollars:

$200 Million will go to the EnCap Flatrock Midstream Fund V, a private equity venture to invest in developers of oil and gas infrastructure such as pipelines, storage terminals, and natural gas processing units.
$350 million will go to the Global Infrastructures Partners Fund V. While there is no public information about this fund, GIP has a history of investing in gas and oil infrastructure as well as in transport and water systems.

These are not short-term investments. While details were not provided either about the nature of the investments or of OPERF’s contractual commitments, such private equity investment contracts are typically long term, lasting 10 to 12 years.

How does this fit with Read’s commitment to decarbonization? He felt compelled to explain at the Jan 25 meeting of the Oregon Investment Council:

“I want to be clear, that does not signal any weakening in my commitment to produce a plan for a net zero pathway and a portfolio that is aligned with climate risk. In fact, for me, it underscores a need for a comprehensive approach - one that makes all of that real. And makes real and tangible progress towards decarbonizing our portfolio but still meets our obligations and our fiduciary responsibilities to current and future retirees.” (from OIC audio recording)

It is definitely not clear how it makes sense to lock the Treasury into an additional half billion dollars of high carbon investments over the next decade -- exactly the time considered critical to meet Paris 1.5C targets. Nor is it clear why Treasury would make such a decision particularly before it comes up with a detailed plan for dealing with the high carbon investments it already has. Nor is it clear why it is taking so long for Treasury to respond to climate risk.

A year ago, in February 2022, Treasury received a “ Climate Risk Modelling Report ” it had commissioned from ORTEC, an international consulting firm. The report underlined the urgency of addressing climate risk in the Treasury’s PERS portfolio (OPEF), which holds the majority of funds ($90 Billion). Just focusing on public equity investments, and assuming the world climate response remains “disorderly,” ORETC projected that the retirement fund’s fossil fuel investments would lose 16.5% of their value against a baseline of investing as usual without climate change. If those investments were replaced with “climate aligned” investments, the annual loss would be limited to 2%. The report further outlined clear risks across the OPERF portfolio’s longer term contractual investments.

Ten months after receiving the report, Treasurer Read proposed to create a decarbonization plan… and to present it to the OIC within another 14 months, by February 2024. Why should it take two years after receiving data outlining urgent risks to the OPERF portfolio to just create “a plan?" Is this “fiduciary responsibility?” This report only came to light in January 2023 through a Divest Oregon public records request that was being sent to mediation. There is no record of it being publicly shared with the Oregon Investment Council.

Is Treasury really serious about “decarbonization” an d the climate risks to PERS beneficiaries and State investments? If so, why are they still making high carbon investments? If so, why don’t we already have detailed plan of action to respond to climate risk?

STAND.earth BLOG: It’s not “if” Oregon divests from fossil fuels – it’s how and when

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 20:07:40 GMT

It’s not “if” Oregon divests from fossil fuels – it’s how and when

DECEMBER 20, 2022

By Amy Gray, Stand.earth and Jenifer Schramm, Divest Oregon

A December 20, 2022 Stand.earth blog states, "It’s not IF Oregon divests from fossil fuels – it’s HOW and WHEN ."

In 2022, Oregonians experienced record-shattering fires and deadly heat , climate impacts directly caused by extracting, transporting, and burning fossil fuels. That’s why Divest Oregon is demanding state Treasurer Tobias Read divest the $137 billion the Treasury manages from these toxic investments, and reinvest in climate-safe solutions to protect state employees’ pensions and the planet alike.

In November, pressure paid off! Treasurer Read said he would come up with a decarbonization plan…in 2024. His published framework for action gets the campaign past emphasizing the need for a plan. Now the focus is on the need for a comprehensive plan – in 2023!

This past year, Divest Oregon co-crafted, introduced, and lobbied 60+ legislators on the 2022 Treasury Transparency Bill (TTB); embarked on email and social media education campaigns, including a Right to Know campaign by public employees; issued hundreds of written and spoken public testimonies to the Oregon Investment Council at all of their meetings; obtained previously opaque information through 23 public records requests.

Together, we revealed:

The Treasury commissioned a 2021 Climate Risk Assessment , yet refused to release the report – finally releasing a highly redacted version after pressure from Divest Oregon;
Underperformance of PERS investment in the past decade between $4-10 billion as reported in the Risky Business: Oregon Treasury’s Fossil Fuel Problem report. This report received national media coverage and built the financial case for a climate-safe pension in Oregon.
Treasurer Read’s opposition to the widely-supported 2022 TTB ;
Issues with the depth and breadth of opaque and illiquid Oregon Treasury private investments in the Oregon Treasury’s Private Investment Transparency Problem report

The campaign is working. In September, Read wrote a New York Times op-ed to speak against the politically-motivated efforts to punish asset managers backing-off fossil fuel investments.

In November, Treasurer Read announced his plan to create a decarbonization plan for Oregon . While it lacks the urgency and scale required by the climate crisis, Treasurer Read’s decarbonization plan is a win for Divest Oregon. It acknowledges that climate change is impacting the Oregon State Treasury (OST) portfolio; the need to address greenhouse gas pollution from OST investments, also called financed emissions; the need to phase out high polluting fossil fuel investments or “decarbonize” the portfolio through offsets; Divest Oregon’s demands for “transparency and reporting mechanisms” are reasonable.

Treasurer Read’s plan does not stop new investments in fossil fuels nor does it provide a roadmap

for rapidly phasing out risky holdings of coal, oil, and gas companies

Heading into 2023, Divest Oregon is ramping up the coalition’s power with 66,000 PERS members representing all teachers in Oregon – whose retirement is being invested by the Oregon Treasury – and numerous statewide climate and racial justice organizations including the Oregon Just Transition Alliance.

The next goal is clear: passing the Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act and mandating urgent action.

The Divest Oregon Coalition is demanding:

Passage of the Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act (LC 2241);
No new investments and the phase-out of fossil fuels, consistent with statute and fiduciary duty;
Revisiting the issue of transparency, and address private investment statutory protections as a block to transparency;
Using established divestment exit lists to avoid wasted time and effort;
Immediate action upon passage and phased action from six months to 2035 .

It’s not if fossil fuels are removed from the portfolio, but how quickly and how it will happen.

More than 1550 institutions representing over $40 trillion in assets have committed to some level of fossil fuel divestment, and recent reports reveal the financial case for divestment is stronger than ever.

The question is, amid the fires and heat:

will Treasurer Tobias Read stand on the right side of history

and urgently protect PERS investments as the world shifts to a green future?

US House Committee Report: Don’t be fooled – Fossil fuel industry has no intention of transitioning to clean alternatives

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 20:14:06 GMT

Treasurer Read’s 11/16 “Decarbonization Framework” focuses on assessing the “transition readiness” of fossil fuel companies to decide continued investment. But the US House Committee report described below shows that the fossil fuel industry has no intention of “transitioning” -- and Treasurer Read’s plan is just buying into and supporting the industry’s greenwashing.

“Oversight Committee Releases New Documents Showing Big Oil’s Greenwashing Campaign and Failure to Reduce Emissions”

Washington, D.C. (Dec. 9, 2022) — Summary of press release :

A new memo from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and documents released show how the fossil fuel industry engages in “greenwashing” to obscure its massive long-term investments in fossil fuels and failure to meaningfully reduce emissions.

As part of the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the fossil fuel industry’s role in spreading climate disinformation and preventing action on climate change, CEOs from Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, API, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce testified under oath about efforts to mislead the public.

“Even though Big Oil CEOs admitted to my Committee that their products are causing a climate emergency, today’s documents reveal that the industry has no real plans to clean up its act and is barreling ahead with plans to pump more dirty fuels for decades to come, ” said Chairwoman Maloney.

Despite public promises that fossil fuels are merely a “bridge fuel” to cleaner sources of energy, Big Oil has doubled down on long-term reliance on fossil fuels with no intention of taking concrete actions to transition to clean energy.
The industry’s inadequate climate pledges and commitment to emissions reductions are intended to provide cover for Big Oil to continue raking in billions of dollars by selling fossil fuels for decades to come.
Fossil fuel companies admit privately that they have pursued a strategy to “resist and block” climate regulations , and that they will only cut emissions “where it makes commercial sense,” and that a key part of their climate plans—selling assets to other oil companies—will not actually reduce emissions.

Full press release: Oversight Committee Releases New Documents Showing Big Oil’s Greenwashing Campaign and Failure to Reduce Emissions : Internal Documents Reveal the Industry Is Making Long-Term Fossil Fuel Investments As They “Resist and Block” Climate Regulation

Report on Investigation of Fossil Fuel Industry Disinformation 12/9/22

Interview with Rep Ro Khanna on the report: “ I was really struck by the lack of introspection ” by David Wallace-Wells ( New York Times 12/15)

Oregon Treasurer Read’s Decarbonization Framework is a Missed Opportunity

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 19:25:52 GMT

Portland, OR – The Oregon State Treasury (OST) released a plan to review carbon intensive industries in the OST portfolio over the next 30 years with no action to exit those emitters mentioned. This review was announced by State Treasurer Tobias Read on November 16. The actual plan will not be unveiled to the Oregon Investment Council until 2024 and will not be completed until 2050. The OST manages $130 billion in assets including $90 billion in the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF).

“Although Divest Oregon welcomes OST’s steps toward decarbonizing its investments, and addressing the serious risks to its portfolio, this framework is a missed opportunity given the immediacy of the world’s climate breakdown,” said Divest Oregon’s Susan Palmiter. “It is too little, too late: crucially, the framework does not end new investments in fossil fuels or remove the worst emitters. The OST is required to make long-term investments, and continued fossil fuel investment locks us into financial and climate risk. The plan’s 2050 deadline does not reflect the urgency of our time, which is the reason many voters showed up in the recent election. The OST should have explicitly stated, like New York State has done, that it will divest from energy companies that present too much of a financial risk.”

Overall, Treasurer Read’s framework:

Does not spell out how the OST will divest from carbon-intensive companies that fail their reviews.
Does not limit new investments in carbon intensive industries including companies that are involved in risky extraction and fossil fuel expansion.
Assumes that shareholder engagement with fossil fuel companies will work, despite the fact that it has not succeeded in changing their core business models and is often used to enhance their reputation.
Fails to take into account the rapidly accelerating climate crisis by setting target dates that do not address the crisis with the urgency that is needed to combat the scale of the climate disasters, including the record-setting wildfires plaguing the Pacific Northwest.
Pledges net zero emissions though these kinds of decades-in-the-future commitments have been challenged as “ dangerous distractions ” by hundreds of leading climate and human rights organizations.

OPERF and the Oregon Short Term Fund have at least $5.3 billion invested in fossil fuels according to Divest Oregon’s Risky Business report . These include the likes of big emitters such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron. None of these companies are on a pathway to transition their business out of fossil fuel production and transportation.

"The very fact that Treasurer Read is releasing this decarbonization plan is a direct result of the power Divest Oregon has built over the past year, and direct pressure from Oregonians demanding public money no longer finance climate destruction," said Jenifer Schramm, co-lead of the Divest Oregon coalition. “While it's good to see climate risk being explicitly stated in financial strategy, this plan reads like it was written 20 years ago, not for the urgency we're experiencing today."

More than 1550 institutions with assets totalling more than $40 trillion , including the world’s largest pension funds and local university endowments and governments, have committed to exit their investments from fossil fuels.

Divest Oregon is supporting 2023 legislation that takes into account OST’s legal constraints, stops new investment in fossil fuels, and phases out all fossil fuel investments by 2035. Oregonians, including tens of thousands of our members who rely on PERS, feel the urgency of the moment and call on Treasurer Read to support the Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act.

–ENDS–

Notes to editors:

For more on the Treasury Investment & Climate Protection Act, see: https://www.divestoregon.org/treasury-investment-and-climate-protection-act .
Divest Oregon is a statewide grassroots coalition of individuals and 99 organizations representing unions with PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities urging Oregon to divest fossil fuels.
Divest Oregon is a member of the North America-wide Climate Safe Pensions Network , a network of more than 25 grassroots communities demanding public pension funds divest from fossil fuels and invest in climate-safe solutions.

The Oregon State Treasury must act on Treasurer Read’s concerns about climate risk

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 15:44:42 GMT

Portland, OR – Divest Oregon encourages the Oregon State Treasury to address the threat of climate change on the state’s investments by supporting pending legislation under the 2023 Treasury Climate Protection Act . The risks from climate change facing the state were outlined in a Climate Risk Assessment commissioned by the Treasury in 2021 and recently acknowledged by State Treasurer Tobias Read in a New York Times opinion article .

Treasurer Read, who leads the Oregon State Treasury, spoke out publicly against red-state campaigns to punish financial institutions that “appeared to consider environmental risks in their investment decisions regarding the fossil fuel industry.” In his September opinion piece Treasurer Read said that:

“Climate change is already affecting the profitability of entire industries in which my fund is invested. Fires, floods and droughts are snarling supply chains and destroying property. It is clear that we need to consider which of our pension fund assets are most exposed.”

Read outlined how major institutions--including the military, insurance agencies, and fossil fuel companies--are already factoring climate risk into their decision-making and called for “hardworking firefighters and teachers” to be given the same courtesy.

“The pending Treasury Climate Protection Act aligns with the Treasurer’s public concerns and the overall fiduciary duty of the Oregon State Treasury to protect the long-term interests of the state’s investments,” said Divest Oregon co-lead Susan Palmiter. “Now, the Oregon State Treasury must turn these words into action. Supporting the Treasury Climate Protection Act would be a compelling start.”

The 2023 Treasury Climate Protection Act (TCPA) legislative concept, sponsored by Representative Khanh Pham, calls for strong actions to address climate risk, includes:

Making transparency central to the state’s investments: The TCPA includes transparency provisions that address private investments kept secret by state statute and contract;
Addressing the long-term risks of fossil fuels: The TCPA mandates a deliberate phased exit from fossil fuel holdings to avoid the risk of stranded assets on the state’s portfolio.
Stopping new investments in fossil fuels: The TCPA prevents the Oregon Treasury from continuing to dig the hole deeper.

In tandem, Divest Oregon is conducting a Right to Know campaign in which beneficiaries of PERS retirement funds from statewide unions will ask the OST how their retirement is being invested, specifically focused on fossil fuel investments in the PERS portfolio in which private investments are 60%.

“Treasurer Read is right to point out that the world is shifting toward clean energy and that we must put this reality ahead of politics,” said Divest Oregon co-lead Jenifer Schramm. “The TCPA offers a comprehensive path forward to help our state address the risks and opportunities of this energy transition.”

–ENDS–

Notes to editors:

Update Monday 11/14/2022: Name of the Legislative Concept has been modified to the "Treasury Investment & Climate Protection Act".
The Climate Risk Assessment was made public through a Divest Oregon public records request in 2022.
For more on the Treasury Climate Protection Act, see: https://www.divestoregon.org/treasury-investment-and-climate-protection-act .
Divest Oregon is a statewide grassroots coalition of individuals and nearly 100 organizations representing unions with PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities urging Oregon to divest fossil fuels.
Representative Pham represents House District 46-Southeast Portland.

Just Say No to Coal!

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 00:21:19 GMT

According to Divest Oregon’s “Risky Business” report, Oregon’s State Treasury has an estimated $1 Billion invested in coal. That’s in spite of the state having decided back in 2016 that coal produced energy was bad for Oregonians, becoming the first US State to pass legislation to rid itself of electricity produced by coal. By statute, Oregon utilities must be free of all coal-fired power by 2030 (SB1547).

Oregon now has no operating coal fired power plants. PGE shuttered the last facility near Boardman in 2020, eliminating about 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, once the State’s largest single source of climate warming pollution. The plant’s 656-foot-tall smokestack and 19 story boiler building was imploded this September, demolishing the last symbol of coal power generation in Oregon .

If coal power is bad for Oregon, how can it be good elsewhere and worthy of our investment?

The case against burning coal has long been clear but, according to a recent NY Times Op Ed from the Rockefeller Foundation , “we’re continuing to move in the wrong direction.” “To avert worsening climate disasters,” they write, “… one task is more urgent than all others: the rapid phase down of planet warming emissions from coal-fired plants…” (emphasis added).

Their key findings:

Burning coal for electricity is the single largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions
Since 1990, the world has doubled emissions from coal-fired power, and more than 900 additional plants are planned, mainly in emerging economies
To keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, we need to cut coal emission in half by 2030

This means, they argue, that we need to stop investing in coal plants – immediately. Cleaner and cheaper technologies, such as wind and solar, are now available and by 2030 will likely out compete coal for energy generation. There is a need for energy investment, but it is in alternative energy and most acutely in emerging nations currently reliant on coal.

Geopolitically, they acknowledge, a just transition from coal will not be simple. But the core of the Rockefeller message is clear: divestment from coal is urgent and the single most important action we can take for a livable future.

Our message to Treasurer Read is the same: Oregon needs the Treasury to exit from the estimated $1 Billion of investments in the coal industry.

SEIU 503 resolution calls for transparency and accountability in Oregon Treasury investments

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 22:01:25 GMT

SEIU 503’s General Council has passed a resolution demanding transparency and accountability in Oregon Treasury investments. Made up of elected leaders from throughout the union, the General Council makes key decisions about the union’s priorities.

The resolution, “Transparency in State Treasury Investments,“ makes clear the need for accountability and cites Divest Oregon’s efforts to date with respect to transparency (obtaining public records, publishing our report , and introducing a bill in the legislature).

Through this resolution, SEIU 503:

Requests that the Treasurer and Oregon Investment Council (OIC) provide annual reporting of all portfolio holdings in all asset classes
Pledges support for initiatives or legislation in the coming years that would require annual reporting or support related investment transparency
Advocates for increased participation and representation by public sector unions in OIC activity and meetings.

Another resolution that passed, “Private Equity and Quality of Long-Term Care and Jobs,” raises concerns about how private equity is profiting off caregiving at the expense of consumers and workers. That resolution requests that the Oregon Treasury perform thorough investigation and reporting of all investments in private equity firms involved in nursing home, in-home healthcare, and hospice services in Oregon.

More information about the General Council’s 2022 resolutions can be found on the SEIU 503 website .

(Pictured in the photo are Twila Jacobsen, co-chair of the Climate Justice Committee and author of the above resolutions, and Senator Deb Patterson of Salem. The wooden sign on the right was made from a piece of a bigleaf maple tree that was burned in the Santiam Fire, September 2020. It was donated to Marion County Alternative Programs where at-risk youth helped mill, dry, and finish the sign.)

Oregon Treasury releases its own redacted climate risk report

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:08:05 GMT

The Oregon Treasury has released its “ Climate Scan Report ,” an assessment of the risks that climate change poses to its investments. The report was completed by Ortec, an external consulting firm, in October 2021. After repeated requests for its release, Treasury produced a highly redacted version of the report to Divest Oregon. Even with redactions, the report makes it clear that Oregon’s assets are highly vulnerable to climate-related risks. Without intervention, the report predicts “lower return expectations across all assets due to negative climate impact over time.”

The report explores how the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF) performs under three climate transition scenarios:

An orderly transition: world nations meet the climate targets set under the Paris agreement through a measured reduction in emissions.
A disorderly transition: the response of world nations is sufficient to meet climate goals but it is sudden and disruptive. The report states:

"Relative to the baseline, in a disorderly transition scenario, high exposure to the US economy contributes to OPERF’s portfolio reducing in value by roughly 8% over the next 5 years."

A failed transition: world nations don’t do enough to meet climate goals and are unable to avert climate catastrophe. Comments from the report about OPERF in a "failed transition" are:

“Notably, by 2037 OPERF’s portfolio value in the Failed Transition scenario is significantly down compared to an orderly low-carbon transition. In a Failed Transition, by 2060 your asset portfolio value is expected to 20% lower than baseline.”
"The Failed Transition scenario shows your current portfolio experiences significant impacts from a failed transition by the middle of the 2030’s as inevitable future physical damage is priced-in."

For all scenarios, “fossil-exposed sectors” suffer significantly. According to the report, “worst outcomes come in a failed transition,” due to the physical impacts of climate change. The report states, “Compared to a typical globally-exposed pension scheme, your portfolio’s current climate risk exposure is relatively more vulnerable due to an exposure to sensitive regions, sectors, and asset classes.”

The report also outlines how geographic considerations play a role in climate risk. Since the US is positioned as “a net fossil fuel exporter, with low energy efficiency, low carbon pricing and high sensitivity to market sentiment shocks,” US investments are “highly exposed to transition risks.”

Climate risk across asset classes is also examined. Treasury's private investments are particularly vulnerable: "the least resilient asset classes are listed/private equities and properties due to their sensitivity to pricing-in shocks and market over-reaction.” The report states:

“We recommend that using this analysis, you could work with your fund managers and advisors further integrating climate into your investment process.”
“Consider rotation away from transition-sensitive sectors/geographies whilst resilience testing asset de-risking in mitigating climate risk.”
“Careful, climate-risk informed choice of longer term, illiquid assets."

View the redacted report here: “ Climate Scan Report ”

Divest Oregon testifies at July 2022 Oregon Investment Council Meeting

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 00:16:53 GMT

Oregon Investment Council and Oregon Treasury staff got to hear in person public testimony from eight members of the Divest Oregon coalition at the July OIC meeting in Tigard. Members shared their personal connections to PERS, their concerns about the treasury’s continued expansion into fossil fuel investments, and the need to advance the principles of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when analyzing risk and opportunities. The

call to action was clear; immediately stop all new investments in fossil fuels, annually release a public list of all portfolio holdings in every asset class, and by 2026, transparently phase out of fossil fuel investments and move to climate-safe investments, using a social justice framework that accounts for the climate impacts on frontline communities across the state, including rural communities and communities of color.

Some of these public testimony statements can be found on the Oregon Invesment Council website .

The council members were given copies of “ Risky Business ”, the Divest Oregon report on their fossil fuel problem. After a year of being limited to only submitting written testimony, it was a powerful experience to be present in the room, look the council members in the eyes, express our concerns and re-iterate our demands. Hopefully this will become a regular occurrence at the OIC monthly meetings. The next OIC meeting will be Wednesday September 7, 2022.

Nationwide teachers union calls on pension fund managers to divest

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 20:18:12 GMT

American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second largest teachers union in the nation, has passed a resolution calling on pension fund managers to “divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in workers and communities.” AFT’s 1.7 million workers participate in public and private pension plans totaling roughly $5.8 trillion. AFT estimates that $255 billion is invested in fossil fuels.

According to David Hughes, one of the co-sponsors of the resolution: “These workers are taking control of their assets, withdrawing the social license of the fossil fuel industry, and seeking to reinvest that money in sustainable jobs. That is a forceful statement and a major climate solution.”

With Oregon Education Association, AFT-Oregon, and AAUP Oregon as members of the Divest Oregon coalition, statewide Oregon teachers unions are already championing fossil fuel divestment.

Read the Boston Globe’s coverage of the news: American Federation of Teachers calls for fossil fuel divestment

Sen. Jeff Golden and Divest Oregon make a case for divestment on Jefferson Public Radio

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 17:18:54 GMT

Listen to Jefferson Public Radio’s interview with State Senator Jeff Golden of Ashland and Jenifer Schramm, co-lead of Divest Oregon: Divest Oregon and the case for getting out of fossil fuel investments.

Senator Golden discusses the importance of phasing out fossil fuels and the volatility of fossil fuel investments. According to Golden: “The first rule of getting out of holes is to stop digging … we do a tremendous disservice investing our large reserves, from PERS and local governments and other funds, into fossil fuels–we’re digging the hole deeper.” Golden presses ahead with a vision of how Oregon could divest from fossil fuels.

The interview was aired on the Jefferson Exchange, a daily talk show focused on news and interests across Southern Oregon.

Portland Business Journal reports on union support for divestment

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 20:36:30 GMT

The Oregon Educator Association (OEA) “wants the state treasury to phase out fossil fuels and increase transparency,“ wrote Carlos Fuentes for the Portland Business Journal on June 20, 2022. The article provides coverage of the recent surge in union support for divestment, as OEA brings its 41,000+ membership to our coalition. It also gives coverage to Divest Oregon’s recent report, “ Risky Business: Oregon Treasury's Fossil Fuel Problem ,” as well as the continued expansion of the coalition as we approach 100 in the number of organizational members!

The text of the full article:

The Oregon Education Association has joined Divest Oregon, a state coalition that's calling for the Oregon Treasury to respond to the effects of climate change.

The educator union wants the state treasury to phase out fossil fuels and increase transparency in their Public Employees Retirement System, the retirement fund for state employees. As of December 2021, PERS funds were at just over $100 billion.

“ For anybody that has money in a 401k, or any kind of retirement system, they get to know how their investments are being made and how the money is being decided, but these PERS members have no say and we feel that that’s just wrong at a basic level,” said Susan Palmiter, co-leader of Divest Oregon.

The move comes two months after Divest Oregon’s 2022 Risky Business report revealed that the Oregon Treasury has at least $5.3 billion invested in fossil fuel companies. The figure doesn’t include money in private equity funds, which comprise one-fourth of Oregon Treasury investments and aren’t publicly disclosed.

Representing 41,000 public school educators, the Oregon Education Association is the latest union to join Divest Oregon, which counts nearly 100 member organizations.

Other member educator unions include the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon and the Oregon State Conference of the American Association of University Professors.

“Oregon educators are joining the Divest Oregon coalition because we know the importance of leading by example,” said OEA President Reed Scott-Schwalbach in a press release. “PERS is our members’ money, and at a time when our students are deeply engaging with the climate crisis our members want to know that the Oregon Treasury is investing in a portfolio that is environmentally conscious and in line with our organization’s commitment to integrity and social justice.”

The Oregon Education Association joins Divest Oregon!

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 14:45:32 GMT

The Oregon Education Association (OEA) has joined Divest Oregon, adding over 41,000 public employees to the number of workers demanding transparency and action from the Oregon State Treasury in response to the climate crisis. OEA is a union representing educators working in pre-k through grade 12 public schools and community colleges. With youth activists leading the call for climate action in our state, OEA members share their students’ concern and seek to secure a better future on their behalf.

OEA is the latest statewide union to join the Divest Oregon coalition, following The American Federation of Teachers-Oregon (AFT-Oregon) and the Oregon State Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP-Oregon). Oregon educators agree: now is the time for bold climate action!

What Does OPERF Fund? Corporate Colonialism with devastating consequences

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 00:02:25 GMT

Global fossil fuel corporations are planning extraction of huge crude oil reserves near Lake Albert. One project is the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), an 897 mile pipeline transporting oil through Uganda and Tanzania to the Indian Ocean. While the profits are siphoned off, East Africa pays the price. The pipeline will:

displace about 118,000 people
endanger the region’s unique ecosystems
threaten wetlands, wildlife, and fresh water sources that support millions of African

Climate Safe Pensions Network documents the project and its support by pension funds – including Oregon’s OPERF – in the case study A Risky Pipeline that Endangers East Africa .

Oregon PERS has invested $40M in two companies, TotalEnergies of France and CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Company), that are destroying key resources in East Africa – and worsening the global climate.

And…CNOOC, owned by the People’s Republic of China, was sanctioned by the US Government in December 2020 and Wikipedia reports on a generally appalling track record.

The 6-minute video, Down the Line , directed by volunteer Divest Oregon Comms Director Andrew Bogrand, was created to be shown in Uganda and shares frontline stories on the impact of the pipeline.

To find out more and act: watch Resisting Corporate Colonialism (1 hour, 9 minutes).

Another PERS Member speaks up!

Thu, 12 May 2022 03:35:57 GMT

OregonLive published a Letter to the Editor from coalition member, Carole Romm, in which she emphasizes the importance of moving away from fossil fuel investments while ensuring a retirement that provides enough. Carole shares that she and her spouse have moved their savings away from fossil fuels to ensure they are not contributing to climate chaos, and to wisely invest their hard-earned savings. Fortunately, as proven in our " Risky Business " report, fossil free investments out perform fossil fuel investments, so it’s a real win-win! As Carole so aptly says, “As a PERS member, I want to know that our retirement funds are invested in a livable future in Oregon and that they will continue to be profitable in a world moving away from destructive sources of energy.” Now, if only the Oregon Treasury would follow Carole’s good example.

All but one democratic gubernatorial candidate agrees to sign divestment legislation

Thu, 05 May 2022 22:26:14 GMT

The public continues to raise questions of gubernatorial hopefuls about Oregon’s fossil fuel holdings. The most recent example was in the KOIN Oregon Democratic Govenor’s debate , around the 20th minute in, when the four candidates were asked if they would sign legislation to divest from fossil fuels.

Three of the four gubernatorial candidates gave a clear, resounding, “yes”. The fourth candidate, Oregon’ current Treasurer Read, did not answer the question, but highlighted their doubling of investments in clean energy and their “dramatic” decrease in fossil fuel positions. Unfortunately, the actions at the April 2022 OIC meeting, when they approved $650 million more in private equity investments that are deep into fossil fuel investments, seems like a clearer example of the Oregon Treasury's actual trajectory.

Portland Mercury Article Digs In

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 23:07:59 GMT

Abe Asher of the Portland Mercury in the article, " Group Urges Oregon Treasury to Divest Billions of State Dollars From Fossil Fuels " (April 22, 2022) provided deep dive coverage of the work of Divest Oregon and the " Risky Business: Oregon Treasury's Fossil Fuel Problem " report. He interviewed coalition co-leads Susan Palmiter and Jenifer Schramm to better understand the genesis of this grass roots movement. After a disappointing meeting last Spring with Oregon Treasury, Susan and Jenifer quickly realized that they would need to address the Treasurer’s obvious lack of enthusiasm for divestment, and form this statewide coalition. Then they learned how hard it was just to get information about the Treasury's holdings, and the Treasury Transparency bill was born.

Abe also interviewed volunteer Divest Oregon Communications Director Andrew Bogrand. Andrew discussed the irony of Oregon’s image as champion in the environmental movement, and a victim of colossal environmental impacts (think heat domes, raging wildfires, drought) and yet our own Treasury is investing more in fossil fuel investments than the entire federal government’s budget for energy efficiency and renewable energy in 2022. Treasury provided a response to the reporter’s request, in which they said they were committed to a portfolio that reflects the realities of a changing climate.

What is clearly reality is a lack of any sense of urgency on the part of Treasury or the OIC.

OIC approves over $650 million more in fossil fuel investments

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 19:40:56 GMT

On the same day Divest Oregon launched our groundbreaking report, Risky Business, Oregon Treasury’s Fossil Fuel Problem , the Oregon Investment Council was engaged in their responsibilities overseeing the investments of the Oregon Treasury. Given the impact of their meeting, we wish they had spent that time reading our report, instead of approving the investments on their agenda. According to the industry journal, Pensions and Investments' article, " Oregon doles out $1.4 billion in commitments ” the OIC approved at least $650 million in new investment commitments to private equity firms that are deep in the fossil fuel industry. The commitments included $250 million to Quantum Energy Partners VIII and $200 million to RGP Royalty Partners II -- both aimed to become investments in oil and gas. Other notables are $100 million in Brookfield Super-core Infrastructure Partners which owns 19.9% of the energy transmission subsidiary of FirstEnergy which provides electricity in 6 states produced 89% by burning coal, $50 million in Stonepeak which was ready to fund the construction of the Kalama methanol refinery and invests in fossil fuels like Dominion midstream, and $50 million in EQT Infrastructure V. EQT Corporation is the largest producer of natural gas in the United States according to their website.

When challenged in the past about their priorities, the OIC claims to be integrating environmental, sustainability and governance risk factors (ESG) into its decision-making, and highlights that they had more than $800 million invested in renewable energy in 2021. That figure pales in comparison to the $5.3 billion, and growing, known investments in fossil fuels. When will their actions align with their claims?

Risky Business Report in Democratic Gubernatorial Debate

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 19:25:19 GMT

On Earth Day 2022, Tina Kotek and Tobias Read participated in The City Club of Portland Democratic Gubernatorial Debate . At the hour mark, the moderators from KGW allowed each candidate to ask their opponent one question of their own choosing. Speaker Kotek chose to ask Treasurer Read about the findings of our Divest Oregon report ; and specifically, why it took someone outside his office -- Divest Oregon -- to give the public the information about how much the Treasury has invested in in the fossil fuel industry and why he cannot aggregate all the fossil fuel investment in private equity to let people know what the number is.

Treasurer Read chose to not address her question, but did share that he is proud of the Treasury's work. He reported that they have “dramatically decreased” their investments that have fossil fuel risks, concluding his response with, “I like where we are headed….and people should feel really good about that.” That kind of vagueness makes our call for transparency all the more urgent, as we do not know where he is headed, or even the basis for his comparison, as the information is hidden from public view. Perhaps the actions of the Oregon Investment Council two days prior, when they chose to invest at least $650 million more in private equity firms that are highly invested in the fossil fuel industry , is the true indication of where they are heading.

Portland Business Journal conducts in depth analysis of "Risky Business" report

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 20:08:16 GMT

Pete Danko, staff reporter for the Portland Business Journal , dug into the recently released report by Divest Oregon, "Risky Business: Oregon Treasury’s Fossil Fuel Problem," which included an Oregon Treasury statement on the report. The article, Oregon has $5.3 billion invested in fossil fuels, divestment activists say , gives comprehensive coverage and included analysis done by Divest Oregon on the underperformance of fossil fuel investments over the last 10 years.

Danko summarized the position of the Oregon Investment Council on divestment, while pointing out the current efforts of the Oregon Treasury to divest from Russian fossil fuel holdings. This kind of thoughtful analysis by PBJ is exactly the kind of coverage we need to get leaders, opinion setters, business people and all Oregonians pushing for real change in Oregon State Treasury’s position on fossil fuel investments.

AP coverage of report release picked up nationally and internationally

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 20:04:22 GMT

The release our Divest Oregon’s Report, Risky Business: Oregon Treasury’s Fossil Fuel Problem was covered by press across Oregon, nationally, and internationally. Andrew Selsky of the Associated Press wrote an indepth analysis of the findings, and his story was picked up by Bloomberg, the Washington Post, Breitbart, US News , The Independent, OPB, The Oregonian, The Statesman Journal, Central Oregon Daily News and KGW .

This level of interest is a clear indication that what the Oregon Treasury does with its fossil fuel investments matters, not just in Oregon, but across the country and the world. The size of the Oregon public employee retirement fund (PERS), ranked 56th largest in the world, carries with it an undeniable responsibility to make decisions that are good for our pensioners today, and for our children tomorrow.

Divest Oregon Launches "Risky Business: Oregon Treasury's Fossil Fuel Problem"

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 17:09:47 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

The Oregon State Treasury needs to change its investment strategy, concluded a new report released today by the Divest Oregon coalition. " Risky Business: Oregon Treasury's Fossil Fuel Problem " details the investments in fossil fuels made by the Oregon State Treasury that are known to the public, and outlines how continued support of the fossil fuel industry by the state exposes Oregonians to climate and health risks, economic cost, and financial risks. "Risky Business" reveals how the Oregon State Treasury has at least $5.3 billion invested in fossil fuel companies with over $1 billion invested in the coal industry alone.

"This report from Divest Oregon makes a moral and compelling economic case for divestment from fossil fuel. The authors of this report show that fossil fuel investments are not economically viable or profitable in the short, intermediate, or long term," said Dr. Idowu Jola Ajibade, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Portland State Universit y. "Recent investments in this industry have delivered terrible returns, leading to the loss of billions of dollars and this trend could worsen in years to come. In the past two decades, Oregon has experienced the devastating impacts of climate-related hazards on communities and fragile ecologies and these are reminders why divestment from fossil fuel is a crucial step toward climate mitigation."

In light of the risks posed by fossil fuels, and the associated loss on investments, the report recommends that the Oregon State Treasury 1) stop all new investments in fossil fuels; 2) annually release a public list of all portfolio holdings in every asset class; and 3) phase out all current fossil fuel holdings and move to climate-safe investments, using a social justice framework that accounts for climate impacts on frontline communities across the state, including rural communities and communities of color.

"As other states and asset managers have realized, no notion of fiduciary duty requires asset managers to continue to invest in underperforming assets, particularly ones whose very existence is incompatible with a habitable planet. It is beyond time for the Oregon Investment Council to catch up and to take action to make Oregon divest from these toxic assets," said Nathan Karman, an Oregon Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) member.

The Oregon State Treasury manages roughly $140 billion. $100 billion of this is in PERS, the 56th largest retirement fund in the world in 2021 . In addition to PERS, the Oregon State Treasury also holds investments in various other funds (such as the Oregon Short Term Fund) and is heavily invested in private equity (26% of PERS), funds which are broadly exposed to fossil fuels and whose management routinely face allegations of “low-road’ labor practices .

“The battle to wind down the fossil fuel industry proceeds on two tracks: the political ... and the financial. Those tracks cross regularly — the influence of money in politics is clear on energy legislation — and when we can weaken the biggest opponents of climate action, everything gets easier,” said Divest Oregon guest speaker and Third Act founder Bill McKibben. “Divestment has helped rub much of the shine off what was once the planet’s dominant industry. If money talks, $40 trillion (in divestment) makes a lot of noise.”

Reason for Treasury Transparency spelled out in this Letter to Editor in Eugene Weekly

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:12 GMT

This Letter to the Editor of Eugene Weekly on Feb 17, 2022 sums it all up!

Invest PERS Money In Renewable Energy

It’s wonderful to have the days growing longer, but as they do the dry and hot season approaches and I worry about the challenges it brings. It’s clear that climate change is already on our doorstep and is fueling unprecedented climate-induced heatwaves (2021) and fires (2020).

Less clear is how our state treasury may be contributing to the crisis. Many of us PERS retirees want to know how our treasury is investing the $130 billion of our money that it manages. Thankfully, HB 4115 is before our legislature this short session, which will ensure our treasury publicly releases that information so we can ensure it’s invested in ways that support our values.

We need transparent, climate-safe investments. We need investments in renewable energy that support a healthy future, not climate-wrecking fossil fuel corporations.

Patricia Hine

Eugene

Treasury Transparency Bill on KBOO Radio

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:09 GMT

Listen in to hear our very own Susan Palmiter and David Labby discuss the Divest Oregon campaign with Barbara Bernstein of Locus Focus on KBOO Radio.

In the February 14, 2022 radio show , Barbara explores the disconnect between Oregon being seen as a leader in tackling the climate crisis while our state Treasury still invests heavily in fossil fuels. Susan and David discuss how transparency is the first step, and shining the light on private equity investments is crucial to true divestment from fossil fuels.

Oregonians Voice Support for Transparency Bill

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:08 GMT

From Corvallis to Ashland to Portland, coalition members are making their voices heard.

Marjorie Stevens wrote in the Corvallis Gazette Times (1/30/2022):

“I am someone who conscientiously tries to match my actions to my convictions.

Whenever I can, I align my spending and investments with my values. I am a Public Employees Retirement System retiree, and I am also a resident of Corvallis; both PERS and the city of Corvallis place investments in funds opaquely managed by the Oregon Treasury.

I am supporting a proposed treasury transparency bill (HB4115) up for consideration by lawmakers next month in Salem, which will shine a light on the holdings of the Oregon Treasury.

It is clear that climate change and social inequity are creating momentous challenges for Oregonians. What is less clear is how our money is contributing to this crisis.

HB4115 will ensure that our treasury publicly releases information about these holdings, along with any climate risk assessments. Most importantly, this bill will give Oregonians a tool to ensure our state is investing in ways that match our state’s needs and values. Fiduciary responsibility should be not just about dollars, it should also be about sense. This is a bipartisan issue, important to every Oregonian.”

Dylan Hinson from Ashland wrote in The Oregonian (12/15/2021):

“It is nonsensical that our green state still has dirty investments (“Opinion: Oregon must disclose and divest from fossil fuels,” Dec. 8). With $130 billion in its portfolio, the state treasury is Oregon’s largest investor. Where it decides to invest has impact. With House Bill 2021, Oregon lawmakers decided we would end use of polluting electricity, so why would we invest in it? The treasury’s investments contradict our state policy and Oregon values.Fossil fuels are a bad investment. Not only are they destroying our state with choking smoke and fire, but they also are a losing financial bet. The fossil fuel industry is going extinct. Let’s invest in the green products Oregon produces instead of the damaging industries of another place. Here in Ashland, we don’t have coal, but we do have True South Solar, Unbound Solar, Piccadilly Cycles and Ashland Electric Bikes.

To end bad investment, we must understand what companies we are investing in. I applaud the efforts of my state senator, Jeff Golden, and the Environmental Caucus to disclose these investments. I encourage my fellow Oregonians to call or email their local representatives and ask that they support the Environmental Caucus in passing such legislation during the 2022 legislative session.”

Want to join the chorus? Here are simple instructions for writing a Letter to the Editor . We know smaller papers regularly publish these letters!

Divest Oregon welcomes Oregon State Treasury data on fossil fuel holdings, urges further transparency

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:07 GMT

The Oregon State Treasury released a comprehensive list of all holdings comprising Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) assets under management on December 9 following a public records request from Divest Oregon in August 2021.

Releasing this information was a core ask of the Divest Oregon coalition, who encouraged the Treasury to disclose its fossil fuel holdings by November 2021 – the start of COP26 (the UN Climate Change Conference).

“We are thrilled that the Oregon State Treasury has taken this critical first step toward addressing Oregon’s contribution to the climate crisis and we hope that the Treasury will build on this spirit of transparency to help our state invest with accountability,” said Susan Palmiter, co-lead of the Divest Oregon coalition. “While this round of disclosures will help Oregonians review our state’s exposure to climate-wrecking and financially-risky fossil fuel holdings, it is critical that it is not a ‘one-and-done’ exercise. We encourage annual disclosures that allow for routine assessments of the climate risks of state investments. This is why we are urging lawmakers to move forward with the Treasury Transparency Bill in 2022.”

This transparency bill (LC 226) – co-sponsored by State Representative Khanh Pham, State Representative Paul Holvey, and State Senator Jeff Golden – would ensure that the Treasury publicly releases its asset holdings annually, along with any climate risk investment assessments. Legislators have pledged to use this information to form a workgroup in the interim to understand the fossil-fuel impacted holdings of the Treasury. The bill will be introduced in the Oregon State Legislature during the short February 2022 legislative session in Salem.

“Accountability starts when we can follow the money. This transparency bill will build on Treasury’s disclosures in December 2021 and allow Oregonians to ensure that their long-term investments are protected from climate risks while better ensuring that we are investing in companies and funds that will power our communities and our state into the future,” said Rep. Pham. “It will also have additional benefits for members of the media, civil servants and concerned residents that are interested in where Oregon is investing our money and how we can align these investments with our state values.”

According to the recent disclosures from Treasury, Oregon has roughly $29 billion from PERS invested in private equity, funds which are broadly exposed to fossil fuels and whose management routinely face allegations of “low-road’ labor practices. In addition to PERS, Treasury also holds investments in various other funds (such as the Oregon Short Term Fund). The proposed Treasury Transparency Bill would also mandate disclosure of these holdings.

Multnomah and Washington County Democrats Join Divest Oregon

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:06 GMT

The Multnomah and Washington County Democrats announced their official endorsement of Divest Oregon.

“Redirecting Oregon’s investments away from fossil fuels to investing those funds in green enterprises will ensure that we are taking the necessary steps to fund the solutions that we so desperately need,” said MultCo Dems’ Party chair, Julio Castilleja. “Oregonians must continue to take bold and innovative steps to grow our green economy, while also meeting the challenges of the climate crisis that people are facing in our state. We look forward to working with our coalition partners to create a more prosperous future for all Oregonians.”

Washington County Democrats are similarly committed to promoting climate solutions: climate action is a top priority in both their Legislative Action goals and their Platform (core principles and values). WashCo Dems have been active participants in the campaign, meeting with legislators to discuss the 2022 Treasury Transparency Bill and attending Divest Oregon’s in-person actions.

Alongside the MultCo and WashCo Dems, the Pacific Green Party of Oregon and the Portland and Eugene chapters of the DSA have also joined the Divest Oregon coalition. Collectively, these parties insist that Oregon’s elected officials, as well as candidates for office, must lead on climate.

AP and Politico articles about upcoming Treasury Transparency Bill

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:04 GMT

The Treasury Transparency Bill, co-chief sponsored by Oregon Rep. Pham, Rep. Holvey, and Sen. Golden in the 2022 Oregon Short Session, has attracted national media attention.

Two recent articles have been written about the bill: Oregon lawmakers push for state divestment from fossil fuels (AP Selsky, 12/8/2021) and Divestment coming to a state near you (Politico, 12/15/2021 – scroll down Sustainable Finance section). Oregon can be a leader in divestment with other states following suit.

Oregon Legislators Support Divestment and Disclosure: 2022 Bill introduced

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:03 GMT

Climate champion legislators Khanh Pham, Paul Holvey and Jeff Golden had an Op-Ed in The Oregonian.

The Op-ed titled “ Oregon must disclose and divest from fossil fuels ” was published on December 8th, 2021 supporting our campaign. They stated, “That is why we are introducing a bill this upcoming 2022 legislative session to disclose Oregon’s fossil fuel holdings so the public can clearly understand our state’s financial and climate risks. We support the urging of Divest Oregon, a grassroots coalition representing unions with PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities: the state must stop any new investments in the fossil sector and phase out current holdings in the next five years.”

Divest Oregon on Public Radio

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:01 GMT

Divest Oregon Communications Director, Andrew Bogrand, and Co-Lead of the Campaign, Susan Palmiter, spoke with Geoffrey Riley about the campaign on Jefferson Public Radio (based in Ashland OR) on Tuesday 12/7.

You can listen to their 20 minute interview that includes background about the campaign, the upcoming bill in the Oregon legislature, and why divestment is necessary.

Major Statewide Unions Join Divest Oregon

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:06:00 GMT

The American Federation of Teachers-Oregon (AFT-Oregon) and the Oregon State Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP-Oregon) announced their official endorsement of Divest Oregon.

They join a diverse coalition representing workers, environmentalists, public sector employees, and people of faith, who are all urging the Oregon Treasury to disclose current fossil fuel holdings and divest from the fossil fuel sector. Together, AFT-Oregon and AAUP-Oregon represent over 20,000 workers across the state, including thousands of PERS members.

AFT-Oregon leadership offered this statement on the Divest Oregon campaign: “As a union we are doing what we can to reduce fossil fuel investments that cause our climate emergency. This effort will convince our state to stop supporting fossil fuel companies with our PERS dollars!”

Leaders in both unions are outspoken advocates for the retirement security of public employees. They are also leading the way in promoting sustainability and clean energy investments. The Oregon Treasury remains invested in fossil fuels despite financial risk that could harm returns for public employees. Most of the Treasury’s holdings are in the $90 billion Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (PERS), which the Treasury manages.

“Research has shown that green investments are showing a greater return and the Oregon Investment Council must work to increase the value of its portfolio,” said a member of AFT-Oregon.

The message is clear: on decisions that impact their retirement security, PERS members do not want the Oregon Treasury taking a risk.

Article in Washington Post, ABC News, and US News states,”Liberal Oregon resists dropping controversial investments”

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:58 GMT

"Oregon residents are increasingly pushing for the state to divest from fossil fuel companies and other controversial investments"

“Oregon residents are increasingly pushing for the state to divest from fossil fuel companies and other controversial investments, but the state treasury is resisting and putting the onus on the Legislature.” said Andrew Selsky, AP Reporter in several news outlets such as the The Washington Post, ABC News , and US News on November 23, 2021. “Even as some cities and other states such as New York have begun divesting, Oregon, a predominantly liberal state, clings to the status quo. The disparate approaches underscore that managers of public funds are often torn between ethical considerations, legal imperatives and obligations to beneficiaries.” As the article states and we have found first hand, “Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read wouldn’t be pinned down on the amount, despite repeated direct questions by Oregon Public Radio. ”

How PERS members are unknowingly funding the climate crisis

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:57 GMT

In this recent Guardian article, the case is clearly made of how workers unknowingly fund the climate crisis with their pensions: As fossil fuels become more volatile, pensioners may be exposed to greater risk unless their funds divest (The Guardian, 11/15). The Divest Oregon campaign has been attempting to make this case to Treasurer Read and the OIC. Join us and make your voice heard in this action before the December 2021 Oregon Investment Council (OIC) meeting.

Half world’s fossil fuel assets could become worthless by 2036 in net zero transition

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:55 GMT

This Guardian article (11/4/2021) cited a Nature Energy research publication saying, “In a worst-case scenario, people will keep investing in fossil fuels until suddenly the demand they expected does not materialise and they realise that what they own is worthless. Then we could see a financial crisis on the scale of 2008,” he said, warning oil capitals such as Houston could suffer the same fate as Detroit after the decline of the US car industry unless the transition is carefully managed.” The Divest Oregon coalition has sent this article on to Treasurer Tobias Read and the Oregon Investment Council reminding them that the risk of stranded assets is an issue within their fiduciary mandate to consider NOW!

Divestment and Climate Justice: An Untapped Opportunity for Credit Unions?

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:54 GMT

The Remarkable Credit Union podcast interviews Divest Oregon’s Communication Director, Andrew Bogrand, about the Divest Oregon Campaign.

The interview notes state:

Talk of how to engage Gen Z and Millenials is widespread in the credit union movement, but when it comes to climate change, many credit unions don’t seem to be speaking up. As we hear more and more about divestment from big banks as a strategy for pursuing climate justice, it seems that credit unions could be capitalizing on a significant opportunity.

Andrew Bogrand, Communications Director for Divest Oregon, believes that our collective future hinges on stakeholders, not shareholders. Given that credit unions have long been champions of stakeholder engagement, can they serve as a convening body for investing in a fossil-free future?

Listen in!

500+ emails were flying & phones were ringing off the hook!

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:52 GMT

In the past few weeks, Treasurer Read and the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) have received over 500 emails and phone calls from Divest Oregon coalition members and friends.

Many of the emails and phone calls came from PERS members. They have told the Treasurer and OIC that, “As an Oregonian, I am concerned about the ways in which public funds managed by the Oregon Treasury are being invested. The fossil fuel industry is a financially risky investment whose product harms the climate.” They have sent our demands:

– Immediately: No NEW investments in fossil fuels since they pose a financial, health, and climate risk to Oregonians.

– Disclose the Oregon Treasury fossil fuel holdings by November 2021 — COP26 (2021 UN Climate Change Conference)

– By 2026: Transparently phase out all CURRENT fossil fuel investments and move to climate-safe investments, using a social justice framework.

Calling and emailing the Treasurer and the OIC will continue as long as the campaign’s demands are not met.

60 Organizations have joined the Divest Oregon Campaign Coalition

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:50 GMT

It’s just been a few months and the Divest Oregon Coalition now boasts 60 coalition member organizations including unions with PERS members, faith communities, organizations representing BIPOC community members, youth, and climate activists.

Oregonians from around the state – from the Rogue Valley to Bend and Newberg to Corvallis — have come together to demand that the Oregon State Treasury respond to the asks of the Divest Oregon Campaign . Organizations are jumping on the bandwagon daily, to a warm welcome! Check out this current list of coalition member organizations. Individuals have also been joining the coalition. They are raising their voices by emailing and calling the Treasurer and the Oregon Investment Council.

Interview with Divest Oregon Communications Director

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:48 GMT

The Divest Oregon Communications Director, Andrew Bogrand, recently sat down for an interview with Coast Range Association’s Andrew Collins-Anderson on the Coast Range Radio podcast.

In the interview , he said “In addition to the need, the climate imperative to divest, there’s a real economic one as well, a real economic boost I think that could benefit a lot of Oregon’s rural economies. — Too often we see public money go to oil companies that doesn’t go to the workers, it goes to pad corporate profits.” Another great quote, “”We can lead the US on this issue – it could be a great moment for the state!”

We are happy to welcome the Coast Range Association as the newest member of the Divest Oregon coalition.

Press Release: New Divest Oregon Campaign Pushes State Treasury to Lead on Climate

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:41 GMT

Following a summer of record-shattering heat and extreme fires across Oregon, a statewide coalition is urging the Oregon Treasury to divest from risky fossil fuels and support a financially-sound, clean energy future.

Press Contact : Andrew Bogrand, Communications Director (abogrand@divestoregon.org)

A growing coalition of thirty-five organizations in Oregon representing workers, environmentalists, public sector employees, and people of faith launched the Divest Oregon: Reinvest in a Fossil-Free Future campaign urging the Oregon Treasury to end all new investments in the fossil fuel industry, disclose current fossil fuel holdings, and phase out all current investments by 2026.

“This summer, local governments received a stark reminder–if it was needed–of the deadly impact of the climate crisis,” said Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal. “Divesting from fossil fuels sets Oregon on the path to envision new investments that promote our economy, environment, and public health; and follows in the footsteps of Oregon counties and municipalities that have already divested including Multnomah County and the City of Portland. We must divest Oregon from fossil fuels now. Our state, economy, and livelihoods depend on it.”

New research suggests that institutional investors like the Oregon Treasury could force meaningful cuts in emissions by reallocating capital away from companies that drill for oil and gas and mine coal. The Oregon Treasury remains invested in fossil fuels despite multiple risks that could hurt returns for public sector employees, imperiling their retirements. Most of the Treasury’s holdings are in the $90 billion Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (PERS), which the Treasury manages.

Almost one in ten Oregonians are exposed to fossil fuel risks through pensions managed by the Oregon Treasury. BlackRock–the world’s largest asset manager–has highlighted these risks and the fundamental reallocation of capital that is rapidly transforming energy investments: fossil-free funds are outperforming conventional ones.

“Of course I am worried about the climate crisis, but I am also worried about my PERS retirement outlook,” said Patty Hine, a retired community college professor and commander in the US Navy from Eugene. “I don’t need to work on Wall Street to know that the fossil-fuel sector has a limited lifespan. When it comes to my money, I want Oregon to make prudent, long-term financial decisions that support the environment and all children’s futures. Divesting from risky fossil fuels and reinvesting in promising, clean energy opportunities would be a great start.”

Always volatile, coal and oil markets have become riskier as environmental regulations tighten worldwide, including in China, the U.S., and the European Union. More than 80 percent of all new electricity capacity added last year was renewable, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, demonstrating the world’s preference for clean fuels over dirty ones. Exxon shares have dropped by more than 25% in three years , and the company was removed from the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

“The physical impacts of climate change on the value of investments together with the changes implied by the energy transition that is already underway present a major risk for beneficiaries of public pensions, including in Oregon,” said Christopher Abbruzzese, Chief Investment Officer for Rain Capital Management in Portland. “Pensions control more than $35 trillion in assets globally and some of the largest have already begun divesting from fossil fuels, so it’s not hard to see how this process could have systemic implications. Add to that the fact that traditional approaches to valuation and risk management are largely based on historical data, making them really bad at dealing with seismic shifts like this. You have to ask yourself if the State of Oregon has the visibility to be prudently invested in fossil fuels right now. Look at it this way: in 1847, with the advent of petroleum, the fiduciary would have had an obligation to reconsider the wisdom of investing in whalers and harpoons. If this is our 1847 moment with decarbonization, Oregon needs to get ahead of it.”

Dozens of large institutions are already going fossil free, including the University of California, with a $126 billion portfolio, and the State of New York, with a $226 billion portfolio. Last week, Harvard University also said it has divested almost all of its $42 billion endowment from fossil fuels. In the last decade, the fossil fuel divestment movement has grown to encompass more than 1,100 government, corporate, educational, non-profit, and faith institutions with $11 trillion in assets under management.

“There is a climate imperative for Oregon to divest from fossil fuels, and anyone who’s smelled the smoke in the air these last summers knows about that. But there is also a compelling financial reason for Oregonians to support this campaign, too,” said 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben . “Simply put: fossil fuels are a bad investment. The energy transition is here. Major and mainstream asset managers recognize this and are looking to reinvest in sustainable energy solutions that better reflect the needs of our local economies and communities on the frontlines of this climate crisis. Oregonians need a pension to retire on, but they need a working planet to retire on too!”

SEIU Local 503 President Mike Powers’ statement to OIC 9/8/2021 Meeting

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:40 GMT

Submitted for Public Comment, Oregon Investment Council Meeting on September 8, 2021

Thank you for the opportunity to submit public comment to the Oregon State Treasury (Treasury) and Oregon Investment Council (OIC). My name is Mike Powers. I am President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 in Oregon. As a labor union, we represent around 72,000 workers in our state. Our essential workers serve as wildland firefighters, adult and childcare providers, food safety inspectors, water quality protectors, janitorial staff, adult and child social service specialists, health care professionals, and more.

I wish to thank Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read and the members of the OIC for their professional management of the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS). Our retired members, and the communities throughout Oregon where they live, benefit from the responsible investments that help ensure a dignified retirement. We are also grateful for Treasurer Read’s support for and helping create Oregon Saves, allowing all working Oregonians to save for their retirement.

SEIU 503 is committed to engaging with Treasury and the OIC on climate change and climate justice. The state’s pension funds must have smart long-term investments to meet its responsibilities to retired workers. The funds must actively manage the risk of climate change and resulting extreme weather, and actively move capital towards a carbon free economy that will create jobs in every county of the state.

We also understand the intersection of climate change and climate justice. We believe that not addressing this concept poses additional risks to our long-term investments. Addressing climate change and the issues addressed by Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria go hand in hand.

As reported in the New York Times, “In 2020, the nation saw a record 22 disasters that each caused damage of at least $1 billion.”[1] As we can see in the west coast fires and east coast flooding, the cost of climate related damage continues to rise in 2021. Insurance companies see and are responding to this risk[2] as companies and citizens are paying a higher and higher price for climate risk[3]. Meanwhile, major financial management firms are noting how diverting investments from fossil fuels improves returns.[4] Similarly, others have observed the financial benefit of investing with ESG criteria.[5]

We are encouraged that Treasurer Read seems to acknowledge these risks and opportunities. In 2015 he stated that, “Climate change has a direct impact on a company’s investments and shareholders have a right to know these risks. As your State Treasurer, I will work with businesses and regulators to require disclosure about the serious economic costs that come from investing in carbon”[6]. And more recently he has stated “What we need now is bold leadership and honest conversations from state leaders, and decisions that prioritize long-term investments to save lives and protect property”[7].

We continue to seek to work with Treasury and the OIC to put action to these aspirational statements. To accurately respond to the financial risk to our members from the OIC investments in fossil fuels and the resulting climate change costs and risk, and to develop ESG criteria for PERS investments, we urge Treasury and the OIC to take the following steps:

Immediately facilitate a climate risk audit to understand the way risk plays out across the Oregon Treasury holdings.

Disclose the results of the audit showing the risks to our members for the OIC investments in fossil fuels.

Commit to taking all necessary proactive steps to manage the risk the audit identifies.

Consider how workers being undervalued and unsafe in the workplace threaten long term returns.

Consider how racist and sexist structures in the finance system threaten the health of our economy.

We encourage Treasury and the OIC to develop measurable objectives around climate risk, the risk of fossil fuel investments, and performance of our investments using ESG criteria.

Again, thank you for this opportunity to provide comment.

Sincerely,

Mike Powers, President

----------------------------------------------------

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/climate/tax-polluting-companies-climate.html 8/4/2021

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/climate/california-fire-insurance-climate.html 12/5/2019

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/opinion/climate-wildfires-bankruptcy-california.html 6/29/2109

[4] https://ieefa.org/major-investment-advisors-blackrock-and-meketa-provide-a-fiduciary-path-through-the-energy-transition/ 3/22/2021

[5] https://robbreport.com/lifestyle/finance/esg-investing-1234618185/ 6/14/2021

[6] https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2015/07/tobias_read_makes_run_for_stat.html 7/8/2015.

[7] https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/10-opinion/518245-414070-read-no-denying-it-climate-change-fight-requires-bold-action?wallit_nosession=1&emci=df6dbd29-1dfd-eb11-b563-501ac57b8fa7&emdi=4e4d60cd-1dfd-eb11-b563-501ac57b8fa7&ceid=20454928 8/11/202

“The Push is On!” – Divest Oregon Public Launch at September 2021 Oregon Investment Council Meeting

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:39 GMT

At their September 8, 2021 meeting, the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) noted our “voluminous” public statements submitted as part of the Divest Oregon Campaign launch.

You can read the statements here . The OIC read only one statement in full, did not mention all statements that were submitted, summarized others to their liking, and then ended the meeting 30 minutes early. Their token acknowledgment of the submissions, and their comments below, indicate they are aware and concerned about our Divest Oregon campaign. Success !

The OIC members and Treasurer are now formally aware of the Divest Oregon demands noted in Patty Hine and Deb McGee’s testimonies. While Treasurer Read did not read the three short demands in full it was noted twice that all statements would be sent to the Council members, so he and the OIC now have our demands in hand which we have confirmed.

Other notes:

SEIU Local 503 President Mike Powers’ statement was read in full; his statement packs a punch since the SEIU represents many PERS members.
Our public comments were referenced throughout the meeting as described below.
On behalf of the coalition, after the meeting we sent an email to the OIC Investment Operations manager to ask why all comments were not acknowledged and why they weren’t read in full. We received a prompt response from Chief Investment Officer Rex Kim saying: “I’m sorry you were frustrated by the public comment section of our September Oregon Investment Council meeting….Bottom line: what we told you to expect didn’t happen, and I’m sorry for that.”

The OIC acknowledged that they are investing public funds, the public is watching, and they need to take a stand ( OIC meeting recorded audio ). Here is an exchange between OIC Member Wilhoite, OIC Chair Russell, and Chief Investment Officer Kim:

Wilhoite: “It’s a challenge when we hear discussion about ESG… that we are a state division. When the public looks at us, they expect to hold ESG platforms at the highest level. When we talk about our investments and our returns to liabilities to PERS — there’s a natural conflict between highest returns and adhering to social values in equity and social justice that a state agency is held to. What is our position as an agency in regards to ESG? Where are we going to stand? … I don’t know if we have the privilege or luxury of going in or out (of an investment)? Are we on a straight line to ESG? … What is our position and how do we hold to it? … We will continue to hear public comments about our positions. Do we have a path? And can we stick to a path to cover our obligations?”
Kim: Our approach is we want to be aware, we don’t want to be overly constrained. That’s the same for private managers. We want to be aware of how they think about ESG and don’t overly constrain them.
Wilhoit: “No easy good answer. Where do we end up?”
Russell: “Having previewed the public comments that we will read or synthesize, that may illuminate what our state should do.”

The OIC is aware that they don’t have a response to our demands and considers us “detractors.” (We would prefer to be considered “catalysts” for action that will benefit both the OIC and the State in the long run.) Here is an exchange between Treasurer Read and OIC Member Wilhoite:

Read: We have increased visible metrics of the treasury. We are on a journey. We have taken some significant steps. We’re far from done. We have made commitments – concrete steps both visible and less visible. We are better off.
Wilhoite: “ The push is on . How far and by when? It’s challenging. It’s easy for the detractors to want movement to renewable energy. That’s my question. How far and by when? When we look at the whole picture and we look at ourselves internally? What are we putting on paper? … If we see movement and see movement towards our goals we can say proudly and we know we are moving in the right direction. The questions are still going to be how far and by when. The question is obvious. … I want responsibility and accountability where we put it on ourselves. … We have real money at the state (to make change). … It’s too easy for people who are detractors to say ‘not moving fast enough, you have no goals and objectives and no timeline.’ I’m asking the Treasurer and the whole team, how do we respond and want to respond to that?”

ESG is seen as a critical issue that needs governance input and shouldn’t be discussed just once a year (as listed in upcoming meeting topics). Chair Russell suggested an OIC board retreat to discuss such matters.

OIC Member Samples: “Our agendas are set far in advance. When there are issues we want to move forward — we want to stay informed and be involved. We are scheduled to discuss ESG again next year — we’re not addressing it as a council for an entire year — not what any of us would want. How do we move council items and governance forward? ”

The Treasury is hiring the following:

An ESG Education Consultant (Manifest) to provide “educational services and bespoke consulting services to help clients define and implement a climate governance and risk management framework. They will be training Treasury staff.”
An ESG Modeling Solutions Consultant (Ortec Finance) to “design and apply modeling solutions to assess the Oregon Treasury asset-liability management, risk management, and climate risk.”

State Treasurer Read: No denying it, climate change fight requires bold action

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:38 GMT

Treasurer Tobias Read had a powerful opinion piece in the Portland Tribune.

In his piece , he said,

“What we need now is bold leadership and honest conversations from state leaders, and decisions that prioritize long-term investments to save lives and protect property. Climate change deniers used to paint the consequences as no more likely than a sci-fi movie set in the distant future. Now, Oregonians can see with their own eyes that climate change is here to stay, and that we must mobilize to stop it from doing further damage to the state that we love.”

Tobias Read, Portland Tribune, August 11, 2021

The Divest Oregon campaign is in complete agreement – we need bold leadership and honest conversations from state leaders and decisions that prioritize long-term investments.

OPB Think Out Loud interview of Treasurer Tobias Read

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:36 GMT

OPB Think Out Loud interview of Treasurer Tobias Read by Dave Miller titled: Will Oregon Divest from Fossil Fuels?

The show intro stated, “The organization 350PDX recently held an event with Oregon’s State Treasurer, Tobias Read, to encourage him to divest the state’s pension fund dollars from fossil fuels. We talk with Read about what it would take for the state to do that.”

Q&A with Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 20:05:23 GMT

Over 40 Oregon organizations co-sponsored a Q&A with OR Treasurer Tobias Read in May 2021. See the 1 hour video of the event or read the transcript of Tobias Read’s statements.
Treasurer Read’s supplied answers to questions posed in the May Q&A (August 2021) and our response .

divest

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Building on Oregon Treasury’s 2025 Progress toward Net Zero Emissions - Part 1

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Oregon Treasury Investment Team Causes $3.7 billion loss to PERS Retirement Fund since 2023. Treasury staff disregarded policies limiting private equity investments.

Oregon Treasury Investment Team Causes $3.7 billion loss to PERS Retirement Fund since 2023.

Treasury staff disregarded policies limiting private equity investments.

Overview

Policy Departures and Oversight Challenges

Documented Financial Impact

Broader Review by Divest Oregon

2022 Valuation Concerns and Market Context

Implications for Employer Contributions

How the Shortfall Developed

Pattern of Deviation

Broader Governance Implications

Rebuilding Public Trust

Conclusion

Two New Reports! Can the Oregon pension fund support a just transition to clean energy? Screening investments is the key

Press Release: Divest Oregon calls for better screening of investments at Oregon State Treasury

Press Release: New Oregon law requires State Treasury include ‘just transition’ framework, new report offers roadmap

Private Investments at Oregon Treasury - in Graphs

Divest Oregon Sends Clear Message at Oregon Investment Council Meeting

Treasury’s Love Affair with Private Investments Doesn't Add Up

Questions for Treasury and OIC about Private Investments

Private Investments in Oregon PERS in the News

Oregon Treasury's "Climate Resilience Investment Act" (HB 2081A) Passes

Divest Oregon conversation with Coast Range Radio: Why is Oregon’s Treasury Addicted to Fossil Fuels?

The interview by Michael Gaskill with Divest Oregon’s Sue Palmiter and Rick Pope provides an overview of the Divest Oregon campaign -- perfect to share with friends and family members!

Divest Oregon’s New Report on Climate Risk to Oregon Public Employees’ Retirement

What is the Pause Act Win?

Oregon Treasury's Net Zero Plan 2024 Report - An Analysis

Press Release: “First-in-the-nation” Pause Act will protect Oregon retirees from private equity’s overexposure to fossil fuels

“First-in-the-nation” Pause Act will protect Oregon retirees from private equity’s overexposure to fossil fuels

New Report! A Comparison of US Pension Funds' Net Zero Plans

NEW REPORT: In 2023, 21 Private Equity Fund Holdings Emitted a Gigaton of Carbon Oregon owns 11 of them!

Is the Oregon State Treasury Supporting Environmental Racism in the Gulf South?

UC Investments Reaps Big Returns From Index Fund Shunning Fossil Fuels, Tobacco

How Oregon’s Pension Fund Helps Vladimir Putin’s Gas Gambit

The American Association of University Professors Votes to Divest From Fossil Fuels

The Urgency of Now to Shift to Renewables

Trump Shakes Down Big Oil for $1 Billion

Divest Oregon Hosts Treasurer Candidates' Forum and Celebrates Its WINS

2023 investments data reveals “business as usual” at Oregon State Treasury

COAL Act Passed in Historic Win for Oregon

Will the Net-Zero Plan meet the demands of the Divest Oregon campaign?

Coal Industry Outlook & Support of COAL Act from Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Divest Oregon Responds to Treasurer Read's Net-Zero Plan

Broad Oregon coalition endorses 2024 COAL Act (HB 4083) to phase out state’s coal investments

OST Public Equity Coal Holdings Underperformed by an Estimated $340 Million

What We Know…and What We Don’t…about Emissions from OST Investments

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100+ Statewide Organizations Call for Urgent Action by Treasurer Read

Multnomah County chose to sue Big Oil and McKinsey for climate damage … and the Oregon Treasury chose to invest in Big Oil and hire McKinsey

"Refreshing" or Green Washing?

Oregon State Treasury Increases Investments in Fossil Fuel Companies

Oregon State Treasury (OST) investments in fossil fuels increased by 25% from 2021 to 2022 in the Oregon's Public Employees' Retirement Fund (OPERF) and the Oregon Short Term Fund (OSTF)

How is the OST investing the money you earned for retirement?

Here’s one example:

A 2023 investment brought the total amount the Oregon Treasury (OST) has committed to private equity firm NGP Energy Capital’s oil and gas Funds to $1.2 BILLION since 2012 .

﻿ NGP is a Carlyle Group subsidiary.

REPORT: Oregon Treasury falling short on human rights, ESG metrics

Blast from the Past: Margaret Thatcher on Climate & the Free Market

Oregon Treasury gets an F in United Nations’ ESG report card

PERS scores 46th out of 47 major funds, just above UAE fund

Divest Oregon Responds to Oregon Political Establishment Undermining HB 2601

Whose money supports ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project? Your money: The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Commentary in Capital Chronicle: Proposal to divest pension funds of fossil fuel holdings is financially responsible

Commentary in Oregon Capital Chronicle by Pete Farrelly (Feb 28, 2023)

Carbon Underground 200 - Why is Oregon Invested in the Worst of the Worst Polluters?

Treasury has not been closely scrutinized in recent years

Oregon Education Association says "Pass this bill!"

Funding businesses that routinely violate human rights should be avoided or rectified when discovered, says OEA resolution

Is OPERF really beating the market? Or is the Treasury just hiding risk?

NGP is a Carlyle Group subsidiary.