NYC Will Invest $50B Into Renewable Energy Via Pension Funds

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's public pension funds will not only divest from fossil fuels, but also invest $50 billion in renewable energy.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer announced Thursday the city will commit to net-zero carbon emissions in pension funds by 2040.

The renewable energy — or "climate solutions," as de Blasio put it — investment of $50 billion will unfold by 2035, they said.

Stringer said achieving zero emissions is an economic, health and moral imperative.

“We are putting our money where our mouth is,” he said. “This is not rhetoric, this is real.”

“$50 billion is not chump change,” he said.

De Blasio and Stringer have often been at odds, but both have long sought to divest the city's pension funds from fossil fuels as a way to help climate change.

The mayor said the action in part inspired by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's "Green New Deal" — an ambitious federal proposal to shift the nation's economy toward renewable energy and fight climate change.

Ocasio-Cortez joined de Blasio and Stringer for the announcement at City Hall. She pointedly swiped at current congressional talks over a major infrastructure bill with major climate change provisions that are in peril.

“On the way over here, I was telling folks that we have a major climate announcement that is incoming and that is actually good for once,” she said.

The bulk of climate action is not happening in Washington, D.C., but is instead happening in places like New York City and at the state level, Ocasio-Cortez said.

De Blasio said divesting pension funds from fossil fuels is a way for people to make an impact on climate.

“When you add up the impact of pension funds across the world, it’s trillions,” he said. “It’s enough to create the solution.”

But as de Blasio touted the city's investment efforts to fight climate change, advocates were running hot over his administration's plans to delay planned Fifth Avenue bike lanes and a busway in Manhattan until after his term.

The mayor yet again prioritized the convenience of drivers — who are responsible for the majority of carbon emissions nationwide — over the safety of people who bike and walk, said Cory Epstein, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives.

"As we face a climate crisis and record-breaking traffic violence, the last thing the administration should be doing is delaying projects like protected bike lanes and expanded pedestrian space," Epstein said in a statement.