California Bill Would Prevent Oil and Gas Investment at Pensions
Posted on 05/09/2023
A new California bill would prevent California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) from making any new investments in oil and gas companies and force them to sell any current positions by July 1, 2031. The bill is currently held in a Suspense File, which means it could come up for a vote before the Senate at a later date. CalPERS has AUM of US$ 456.7 and CalSTRS has US$ 306. The giant pensions are opposing the bill.
California is a top 10 oil producing state, but output has declined. California’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has 242,000 wells. CalGEM is allowed to engage in fracking: “CalGEM has state and federal authority to oversee injection wells that push fluids into porous rock formations; to inject fluids into production wells to assist in oil recovery.”
