Stop Divestment Plan

Dear Editor:

I’m concerned about the divestment plan put forward by Senator Krueger. It’s a bad plan and it won’t work—plain and simple.

Senator Krueger’s idea is to divest all New York pension funds from any company that produces fossil fuels. On paper, this would discourage fossil fuel production. But in practice, it would not work that way at all. Think about it. By pulling your investment, you give up all of your leverage and influence over a company’s practices and decisions. A company is not going to change its model because you pull your investment. You can’t influence a company (for example, to move towards more clean and green energy) if you are not at the table. If we were really serious about changing companies’ behaviors, we’d engage with them and encourage them to change. We wouldn’t just walk away.

This divestment plan is a lemon: looks great on the outside, but it will leave us with a sour taste.

Barb

West Seneca, NY