San Diego County takes a big step on its objective to fight back against climate change.
This week, the County's Board of supervisors voted in unanimous fashion to divest of fossil fuel companies going forward.
The supervisors that voted for this change said this week that the county will prohibit any assets tied to “any corporation that engages in the exploration, production, drilling, or refining of coal, petroleum, or natural gas.”
According to Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, this vote was based on the intention of aligning their investment funds with San Diego County's "mission and values".
“I think this is very historic that we’re taking action as a board to say that we’re not going to be investing in any more industries that profit from destroying our planet, that profit on the backs of climate change, that profit on the backs of really mortgaging our future for future generations,” she stated. “We’re really going to say no to that and stop those investments in fossil fuels.”
In recent memory, San Diego County has made it an objective to become a leader in the fight against climate change, taking action such as the launch of a decarbonization method that aims at cutting the region's carbon emissions down to net zero through funding in renewable energy and transportation. This transformation includes new ways of doing things, such as shifting to solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and other progressive methods involving. natural systems.
The board of supervisors say that this transformation will only impact future investments, and adds that it won't produce a negative effect on the Investment Pool.
“The Treasurer anticipates that avoiding these investments will have minimal or no negative future impact on the Investment Pool, and any potential lost opportunity could be offset with opportunities” in other sectors, it stated.
