April 18, 2020

Activists & NYC Council Push Tone-deaf Divestment of Very Companies Supporting Crisis Response

While activists use this crisis to push empty gesture political statements, the industry they want to divest from is stepping up to support people and communities working to resolve this crisis for us all.

The Huffington Post reports the New York City Council is set to introduce a resolution to “formally demand the banks, asset managers and insurance giants with which the city government does business divest from oil, gas and coal” on Monday. The resolution, which reportedly already has 10 co-sponsors, would target entities like JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, and Liberty Mutual.

Yes – at a time when New York City and State are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation crisis, these legislators are focused on advancing the costly, empty gesture that is fossil fuel divestment. Making matters worse, this effort is calling to divest from the same companies providing critical supplies and support to those on the front lines of this crisis.

Not only do companies all along the oil and gas supply chain support essential services – working day in and day out throughout this crisis to keep our lights on, provide transportation fuel for our workers, and support the development of critical equipment – they are also supporting their communities during this crisis. Here’s a brief rundown of just some of the things energy companies are doing to give back at this critical time:

• Chevron has made $7 million in global commitments to date, including more than $2 million to local relief efforts in several states, committed an additional $2 million to match 2:1 employee contributions to U.S.-based nonprofits, contributed to the DonorsChoose program “Keep Kids Learning” with a $500,000 grant to support teachers in highest-need schools with grants to purchase essential remote learning supplies, and is working with global partners on a variety of initiatives, such as helping to fund emergency services in remote parts of Western Australia and providing medical supplies to hospitals in Thailand.
• ExxonMobil and the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) have initiated “multi-sector and joint development projects to rapidly redesign and manufacture reusable personal protection equipment for health care workers, such as face shields and masks, which are in short supply as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic…Once approved, manufacturers indicate they will be able to produce as many as 40,000 ready-to-use masks and filter cartridges per hour.” N95 masks, which have proved vital in protecting frontline workers, are actually made out of material that ExxonMobil invented in the 1970s.
• Baker Hughes is using its 3D printing capabilities to make parts of protective gear. The Houston Business Journal notes “the 3D printers were reprogrammed to make various pieces of PPE, such as up to 40 face-shield brackets a day.”
• Natural Gas Intelligence reports “BP plc has donated $2 million to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund to provide critical aid and supplies to medical professionals and patients. It also has begun delivering drinking water by canoe to an African town in Mauritania after its border was closed because of the pandemic.”
• The article continues, “Tulsa-based Williams has pledged $1 million to provide community support focused primarily on emergency response, food insecurity, health and human services and kindergarten-12 distance learning solutions for public schools. The Williams Foundation has established an intake form for grant requests and encourages 501(c)3 organizations, first responders and public schools to apply online.”
• Shell is mobilizing across the world, making and donating millions of gallons of hand sanitizer for the healthcare sector and governments in the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and Kenya. In over 15,000 participating retail sites across more than 30 countries, Shell is “providing free food or drink to health-care professionals such as nurses and doctors, as well as truck drivers and the delivery people who are vital to maintaining supplies” as well as “free fuel to healthcare providers and ambulances in countries including the Netherlands, Bulgaria, China, Oman, the Philippines and Turkey” while deploying expertise to help tackle the shortage of masks and protective equipment in Europe.”

These commitments skim the surface of how the industry is giving back, all while handling a difficult commodity market imposed by a price war out of Saudi Arabia and Russia. What are activists doing? Holding all day webinars and penning opinion articles from pro-divestment groups stating “Fossil Fuel Companies Are Suffering Under the Coronavirus. Good.”

This tone-deaf effort is not just underway in New York City: Go Fossil Free and 350.org put out a press release and call to action video pushing divestment at the state level, making noise about “all the support” the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act has among state New York State senators – state leaders who should be focused on passing important bills that would provide relief to those affected by COVID-19, such as suspending rent payments and addressing paid sick leave.

Let’s not forget the people behind the energy industry are also facing extreme hardship. We not only rely on these men and women to deliver the energy needed to power all-day-webinars (even 72 hour long webinars) that Earth Day organizers are coordinating, but they are facing a challenging economic landscape as a result of a price war and pandemic that are outside of their control. Reports from Brookings Institute notes the energy metro areas will be some of those hit hardest by this pandemic.

Divestment has never been a solution to support the environment. But calls to divest also go against today’s political priorities in New York City. As POLITICO reports, the City is rightly primarily concerned with “providing relief” to businesses in need and thousands of residents who have been laid off—and has a number of proposals in front of it that now make up a “list of likely casualties” as the government responds to the pandemic. The article touches on divestment as well, noting “The mayor’s pledge to divest pension money from fossil fuel companies is even further in jeopardy than when he was claiming it was already done on the campaign trail.”

“Divestment is the last thing on the list that’s going to be looked at,” said Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237 and a trustee for the New York City Employee Retirement System states in POLITICO. “Who is going to look at divesting now with the market going the way it’s going?”

Turns out select members of the NYC Council ignored this input and are moving this empty gesture forward anyway.

New York politicians have a lot to tackle right now – how to support city residents, how to keep healthcare workers safe, how to manage the economic fallout of this crisis while keeping the public informed. Empty gesture divestment for an industry fueling our response and recovery is bad politics on a good day, and plain irresponsible in the midst of this crisis.

This resolution, if passed, won’t actually do anything but rather sends a message, as the Huffington Post describes, of the city’s view on this issue. But perhaps it sends a different message altogether: Activists have used this crisis to plan webinars to push empty gesture political statements, while the industry they want to divest from has stepped up in the midst of real hardship to support people and communities working to resolve this crisis for us all.