California's fossil fuel investment ban as reckless as Florida, Texas laws

Plus, insurance companies aren't waiting around for climate change

In today’s edition:

— A proposed ban on oil investments in California flips anti-ESG backlash on its head

— Insurance companies are reacting to global warming with their feet; we’ll all feel the cost

— Norway’s top fund may be the last to challenge oil giant climate strategies

— United Nation bringing its 2025 climate conference to Brazil, Lula says

— Why wildfires aren’t just for the U.S. West anymore

Italian officials are investigating how and why a part of Venice’s Grand Canal turned fluorescent green on Sunday. Environmental authorities are also testing the water, according to a report from The Independent. Local reports claim police were looking into whether the green coloring could be a protest by climate activists. Photo: Vigili del Fuoco.

Forget the anti-ESG backlash in Florida and Texas.

A proposed new law to ban California’s massive pension funds from new investments in fossil fuel companies and require eventual divestment of oil and gas holdings is simply the same intolerance at the opposite extreme of the climate battle.

Requiring large investment funds to reduce the tools they use to get the best investment returns for their clients and retirees — either by not using environmental, social, or governance strategies or by not investing in a specific sector, such as oil — is just partisan politics working against the interests of investors.

Both of California’s largest pensions, CalPERS and CalSTRS, are against the proposal, which passed the state senate last week and is expected to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. They argue that the law will cut their ability to fund their obligations to state workers and that divestment takes away their ability to influence the oil companies as they transition to renewable energy.

As we can see from the reaction in climate camps to President Joe Biden’s debt-ceiling deal over the weekend, there are lots of opposing forces in the climate fight. But whatever your agenda, restricting the ability of fund managers to get the best returns for their customers is a losing bet every time. . . .

Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.

Follow us . . . .

Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

---

Review: 'Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship that Saved Yosemite'

Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir went camping at Yosemite. Photo: Library of Congress.

. . . . In the book Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship that Saved Yosemite, Dean King talks about how early environmentalist John Muir and his editor friend Robert Underwood Johnson worked to protect Yosemite Valley. Our reviewer Jack Hamilton argues that even in the battles they didn’t win, the two provide a boost of hope for those leading the climate fight today. . . .