Ethical Concerns

Under the Paris Agreement, all countries committed to keep global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees C. Climate change is not a distant issue - we are already feeling the effects of global warming here in our state. Colorado is experiencing one of its driest years on record in 2020, much of the state is in extreme drought, and we have wildfires that have collectively burned over 175,000 acres of our state.

Fossil fuels are a main driver of climate change - and simply put we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible. Fossil fuel divestment can help to preserve a safe climate, fill the renewable energy investment gap. The fossil fuel era is ending, and must be replaced by a cleaner, renewable energy economy.

Fossil fuels are also at play in other major catastrophes such as air pollution, contaminated drinking and groundwater from fracking, negative public health impacts, exposure to toxic chemicals, and accidents including spills, fires and explosions. Furthermore, fracking operations use billions of gallons of freshwater, of particular concern in our state where drought is an ongoing threat.

The oil and gas companies that PERA is helping to finance are forcing a massive industry expansion all over Colorado - near our homes, schools, parks, and protected lands. Across our state, communities are experiencing dangerous consequences from this expansion of oil and gas drilling. Fossil fuel production in Colorado has led to poor air quality that fails to meet federal standards. The American lung association has given most of the front range a consistent F-grade air quality rating.

PERA’s investments include oil and gas companies like Suncor and Extraction, who have been known to emit toxic pollution dangerously close to homes and schools. In Commerce City, the Suncor Oil Refinery is facing a 9 million dollar settlement for violating air quality regulations, by filling the air with dangerous pollutants like sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and even hydrogen cyanide. These air quality violations have caused a variety of health problems for nearby residents, including asthma, cancer, and heart and lung complications. The areas most affected by Suncor’s pollution are low-income communities and communities of color.

In Greeley, Extraction Oil and Gas is operating fracking wells less than 700 feet from the playground of Bella Romero academy, exposing 4th-8th grade school children to dangerous levels of benzene. Across Colorado, people have suffered from nausea, nosebleeds and headaches due to nearby fracking. There has been an unusual uptick in health problems like asthma, childhood leukemia and low-birth weight babies close to drilling sites. Residents have filed complaints about toxic fumes, leaks, loud industrial noises, and earthquakes. There have also been over a hundred fires and explosions at oil and gas sites all over Colorado.

Furthermore, companies like ExxonMobil (who PERA has investments in) are under investigation for having deliberately misled the public, shareholders and governments over climate change science and climate risk for decades in order to protect their profits.

While it is true that we all live in a fossil fuel era, it needs to come to an end before more irreparable damage is done.