100 signatures reached
To: Pauline Russo Cutter, Mayor of San Leandro, CA, Deborah Cox, Council Member, Ed Hernandez, Council Member, Lee Thomas, Vice Mayor, Benny Lee, Council Member, Corina López, Council Member, and Pete Ballew, Council Member
Defund and Divest San Leandro from Fossil Fuels
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
We, the citizens of San Leandro, are deeply concerned about the serious threats and future costs to our city from severe storms, flooding and sea level rise caused by accelerated global warming. The majority of greenhouse gases that are causing accelerated global warming come from the burning of fossil fuels.
We do not want our tax dollars used to continue supporting the industry most responsible for the future destruction of our city and planet. That is why we are formally requesting that our city stop doing business with the banks that fund new construction of fossil fuel pipelines.
We ask you to protect San Leandro’s future with the following actions:
1) Include de-funding and divesting from fossil fuel-financing banks in our city’s Climate Action Plan, which established a goal to “reduce carbon emissions by 25% below 2005 levels by the year 2020.”
2) Pass a resolution stating San Leandro’s commitment to discontinue financial relationships with any banking institution that does business with the fossil fuel industry, in adherence to the above carbon emissions reduction goals.
3) Replace our current financial service provider, Wells Fargo, which finances fossil fuel pipeline construction, with bank(s) that invest in a sustainable, regional or green economy.
4) Pass a separate resolution, as neighboring cities like Oakland, Richmond, Brisbane and Fairfax have done, urging CalPERS (manager of our city's pension fund) to immediately halt new investment in fossil fuel companies and to complete divestment by 2020.
Thank you for your leadership to protect our city from the negative impacts of climate change.
We, the citizens of San Leandro, are deeply concerned about the serious threats and future costs to our city from severe storms, flooding and sea level rise caused by accelerated global warming. The majority of greenhouse gases that are causing accelerated global warming come from the burning of fossil fuels.
We do not want our tax dollars used to continue supporting the industry most responsible for the future destruction of our city and planet. That is why we are formally requesting that our city stop doing business with the banks that fund new construction of fossil fuel pipelines.
We ask you to protect San Leandro’s future with the following actions:
1) Include de-funding and divesting from fossil fuel-financing banks in our city’s Climate Action Plan, which established a goal to “reduce carbon emissions by 25% below 2005 levels by the year 2020.”
2) Pass a resolution stating San Leandro’s commitment to discontinue financial relationships with any banking institution that does business with the fossil fuel industry, in adherence to the above carbon emissions reduction goals.
3) Replace our current financial service provider, Wells Fargo, which finances fossil fuel pipeline construction, with bank(s) that invest in a sustainable, regional or green economy.
4) Pass a separate resolution, as neighboring cities like Oakland, Richmond, Brisbane and Fairfax have done, urging CalPERS (manager of our city's pension fund) to immediately halt new investment in fossil fuel companies and to complete divestment by 2020.
Thank you for your leadership to protect our city from the negative impacts of climate change.
Why is this important?
>Human activity is fueling accelerating global warming:
Global temperature rise is already causing dangerous shifts in weather and climate, in the form of more frequent and severe heat waves, droughts, storms, heavier precipitation, river flooding, sea level rise, accelerated species extinction and loss of land available for growing food. Scientist’s agree that the only way to leave a habitable planet to our children and grandchildren is to dramatically curb our emissions by KEEPING THE MAJORITY OF THE REMAINING FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND.
>The impacts of climate change are already local:
San Leandro is already experiencing the impact of global warming. The long-awaited Marina Development Plan is once again delayed, this time due to changes that must be made in order to protect the buildings against anticipated sea level rise. This will have major financial impacts.
This past winter’s storms and heavy rains wrecked havoc on our city’s roads and storm water drain system. In nearby Pleasanton, heavy rains caused torrential flows on the Arroyo De La Laguna Creek and eroded 30 feet of three families' backyards . Their homes are now just a few feet away from falling into the creek. San Jose’s reservoir overflowed into the creek that runs through town, flooding 36,000 homes and requiring emergency evacuations by boat of thousands of residents. San Jose officials state the damage total $73 million. How prepared is our city for similar impacts?
>Local governments must drive solutions to protect their communities:
The impacts of climate change are felt at the local level. With expected damage on the rise everywhere, it is unlikely we would be able to depend on future financial assistance from our state or federal government. Collectively, local governments are driving solutions to protect their communities with comprehensive emissions reduction and adaptation strategies.
San Leandro has already invested significant resources toward our goal of “reducing our carbon emissions by 25% below 2005 levels by the year 2020.” (San Leandro’s 2009 Climate Action Plan).
But for San Leandro’s Climate Action Plan to ultimately be successful, our city’s carbon reduction strategies must address ALL of our city's contributions to carbon emissions. Arguably, the significant financial holdings we have in banking institutions that finance pipeline development may negate the achievements we make toward our current Climate Action Plan goals. This is why our strategy must ALSO include defunding and divesting our city’s financial investments in institutions bankrolling ongoing fossil fuel extraction. Future generations of San Leandrans are depending on you.
The following banks providing the bulk of the financing for the multiple oil and gas pipelines currently under construction in the US. We ask our city to avoid future financial relationships with any of these institutions:
Wells Fargo
Comerica Bank
Bank of America
U.S. Bank
PNC Bank
Barclays
JP Morgan Chase
UBS
Goldman Sachs
Deutsche Bank
Compass Bank
Morgan Stanley
Origin Bank (formerly Community Trust)
HSBC Bank
Citibank (Citigroup)
TD Securities
BNP Paribas
DNB Capital
BBVA Securities
SunTrust
Sumitomo Mitsui Bank
Credit Agricole
ABN Amro Capital
Intesa SanPaolo
ING Bank
Natixis
BayernLB
ICBC London
Societe General
Scotiabank
Citizens Bank
Credit Suisse
DNB Capital/ASA
Royal Bank of Canada
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
Mizuho Bank
Sources:
https://www.epa.gov/climatechange
https://climate.nasa.gov/
http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/pw/climate_action_plan.asp
http://www.citylab.com/tech/2017/01/in-the-trump-era-all-climate-progress-will-be-local/513947/
Global temperature rise is already causing dangerous shifts in weather and climate, in the form of more frequent and severe heat waves, droughts, storms, heavier precipitation, river flooding, sea level rise, accelerated species extinction and loss of land available for growing food. Scientist’s agree that the only way to leave a habitable planet to our children and grandchildren is to dramatically curb our emissions by KEEPING THE MAJORITY OF THE REMAINING FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND.
>The impacts of climate change are already local:
San Leandro is already experiencing the impact of global warming. The long-awaited Marina Development Plan is once again delayed, this time due to changes that must be made in order to protect the buildings against anticipated sea level rise. This will have major financial impacts.
This past winter’s storms and heavy rains wrecked havoc on our city’s roads and storm water drain system. In nearby Pleasanton, heavy rains caused torrential flows on the Arroyo De La Laguna Creek and eroded 30 feet of three families' backyards . Their homes are now just a few feet away from falling into the creek. San Jose’s reservoir overflowed into the creek that runs through town, flooding 36,000 homes and requiring emergency evacuations by boat of thousands of residents. San Jose officials state the damage total $73 million. How prepared is our city for similar impacts?
>Local governments must drive solutions to protect their communities:
The impacts of climate change are felt at the local level. With expected damage on the rise everywhere, it is unlikely we would be able to depend on future financial assistance from our state or federal government. Collectively, local governments are driving solutions to protect their communities with comprehensive emissions reduction and adaptation strategies.
San Leandro has already invested significant resources toward our goal of “reducing our carbon emissions by 25% below 2005 levels by the year 2020.” (San Leandro’s 2009 Climate Action Plan).
But for San Leandro’s Climate Action Plan to ultimately be successful, our city’s carbon reduction strategies must address ALL of our city's contributions to carbon emissions. Arguably, the significant financial holdings we have in banking institutions that finance pipeline development may negate the achievements we make toward our current Climate Action Plan goals. This is why our strategy must ALSO include defunding and divesting our city’s financial investments in institutions bankrolling ongoing fossil fuel extraction. Future generations of San Leandrans are depending on you.
The following banks providing the bulk of the financing for the multiple oil and gas pipelines currently under construction in the US. We ask our city to avoid future financial relationships with any of these institutions:
Wells Fargo
Comerica Bank
Bank of America
U.S. Bank
PNC Bank
Barclays
JP Morgan Chase
UBS
Goldman Sachs
Deutsche Bank
Compass Bank
Morgan Stanley
Origin Bank (formerly Community Trust)
HSBC Bank
Citibank (Citigroup)
TD Securities
BNP Paribas
DNB Capital
BBVA Securities
SunTrust
Sumitomo Mitsui Bank
Credit Agricole
ABN Amro Capital
Intesa SanPaolo
ING Bank
Natixis
BayernLB
ICBC London
Societe General
Scotiabank
Citizens Bank
Credit Suisse
DNB Capital/ASA
Royal Bank of Canada
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
Mizuho Bank
Sources:
https://www.epa.gov/climatechange
https://climate.nasa.gov/
http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/pw/climate_action_plan.asp
http://www.citylab.com/tech/2017/01/in-the-trump-era-all-climate-progress-will-be-local/513947/