Here is the zoom link for our get out the vote letter-writing party at 7pm Sunday.
********* TWO REQUESTS FROM 350.ORG, OUR PARENT ORGANIZATION*********
These are difficult times for our students and teachers.
On top of preparing for online school, teachers across California are also fighting another battle.
Without their consent, teachers’ retirement money is being invested in fossil fuel companies that are destroying their students’ chances at a future. Right now, at least $6 billion of the California public school teacher’s pension fund is being invested by CalSTRS into fossil fuels – that’s $500 million x 12.1
CalSTRS claims that they are making these investments to earn a high rate of return for teachers, but the truth is that just last year they lost $1 billion of hard-earned money for teachers by recklessly choosing to stay invested in fossil fuels.2
Will you join us in solidarity with teachers and students across the state and take action to divest California’s public school pension fund from fossil fuels?
Here’s what you can do right now:
- Leave a comment on as many CalSTRS social media posts as possible exposing the truth.
Sample post: Teachers do not consent to you investing $6 billion dollars of their retirement savings in the fossil fuel industry. You have already lost enough of our teachers’ money and are destroying our future #DivestCalSTRS #YouthAreOurFuture #NotOneMoreYearInFossilFuels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XGwIEfxR5I
Here are the links to their page on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- Contact a teacher you know and invite them to get involved. You can share this toolkit with them.
California’s huge pension fund for public school teachers, CalSTRS, is the second largest state pension fund in the nation – which means their actions set a precedent for pension funds across the country.
Students and teachers have been fighting this battle in California for years and they need our support. During record wildfires and a global pandemic, our future and our health cannot wait.
***
More than 3 million acres are on fire in California. That’s more than any other year on record – including the largest single fire ever in state history. Thousands are evacuated and millions are breathing toxic air with apocalyptic orange skies. Climate catastrophe is not an abstract notion, it is here and we are living it.
Gavin Newsom tweeted that “we must do more” to curb climate change. Here’s the thing: He has the power to do more, but he refuses.
Newsom has approved 7,474 permits to drill for oil in California since taking office in January 2019. In 2020 alone, he has approved 1,547 new well permits1
PLEASE JOING OUR VIRTUAL TWITTER RALLY: https://350.org/california-twitterstorm/?rd=1&source=em20200911&t=2&referring_akid=130404.4400867.enQ3G_
CLICK TO TWEET THE MESSAGE BELOW: Where is the update on your actions to address fossil fuels as the root cause of these fires, @CAGovernor? In 2020, @GavinNewsom has fueled the flames by granting over 1,500 new oil & gas permits. It is time to phase out fossil fuels. #WalkBackTheFrack |
Incremental steps proposed by our “leaders” like Governor Gavin Newsom are frankly insulting to the pain and reality Californians are facing. We’re done with empty words and promises.
Gov. Newsom said he’s “enacted bold climate policies” – but that’s not true. He has refused to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry, which is the driving force behind climate change and increasing extreme weather, or ban fracking.
Our priority needs to be staying safe and looking out for each other, but at the same time, we must use this moment to finally demand the bold change we need to protect the future of our state. We must cut ties with fossil fuels.
As the world’s fifth largest economy, we can set an example, dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and keep fossil fuels in the ground starting here at home. It’s the only way to protect our future.
We need to make it clear that any response to these fires that doesn’t include a commitment to cut ties with fossil fuels is not enough. That means no fracking, no new permits.
Please stay safe,
Tianna
Fresno, CA
P.S. Please watch and share my Instagram video from the Clovis Hills Community Church with your friends and networks.