Oregon Department of Transportation employees work in smoky air during the 2020 Riverside Fire near Estacada, Oregon. ODOT employees are represented by SEIU 503, whose leaders argue the state is making the right decision to move the Oregon public pension fund away from investments in climate-warming fossil fuels making outdoor working conditions more dangerous. (Photo courtesy of ODOT/Flickr)

Members of SEIU 503 commend state leaders’ decision to move investments in Oregon’s public retirement fund away from fossil fuels

The unchecked burning of fossil fuels, carbon-intensive companies, and the escalating climate crisis pose real dangers to the health, safety, and financial stability of our state’s public sector workers.

Many work outdoors, directly impacted by the dangers of extreme heat, wildfires, smoke, floods, and deep cold.

Beyond their workplaces, too many live in impacted communities and have even lost their homes, destabilizing their families and livelihoods.

Financially, the risks associated with fossil fuels and climate change pose significant threats to the long-term health of many different investments that fund their hard-earned retirement.

This is precisely why we at Service Employees International Union Local 503 and Climate Finance Action commend the Oregon Treasurer Steiner for her leadership in passing the Climate Resilience Investment Act.

With Governor Kotek signing the bill into law on June 30, we are now eager to see the bill swiftly and effectively enacted, paving the way for a truly climate-resilient future for Oregon’s public workers, our communities, and our economy.

The Oregonians who comprise SEIU 503, our state’s essential workers on the front lines, voted to urge the Oregon Treasury to take an active role in mitigating the risks of fossil fuel exposure and vulnerabilities of companies that are not climate-resilient to their retirement funds. They also strongly supported seeking clean energy investment opportunities that build long-term retirement security.

We understand and respect that the treasurer and Oregon Investment Council have an important duty to sustain our retirement system and be good stewards of taxpayer money.

This bill achieves that through a commonsense approach to factoring in climate risk when making investment decisions – equipping the fund to make smarter financial decisions, avoid risky investments, and focus on future growth and responsible businesses. These new tools will set up the Treasury and state retirement system to better manage the deferred compensation and retirement savings of more than 300,000 public employees.

For the hardworking families of Oregon, this translates directly to stronger, more secure retirements, protected against the very real and material financial risks that climate change poses. Done right, the evolution to a clean energy economy will be a just transition to good, union jobs in renewable energy.

We can make investments to grow our pension fund while developing a more sustainable and resilient energy economy.

This is a key step in Oregon’s modernization of its retirement asset management, ensuring employees’ retirement security, strengthening the state’s resilience against costly climate impacts, and attracting clean energy and sustainable industries that will drive economic growth within the state.

With innovative financial leadership, Oregon is poised to lead the nation by demonstrating that responsible investing– protecting families from climate risks, actively engaging to reduce carbon footprints, and embracing new opportunities – is both possible and essential in today’s changing world.

This leadership demonstrates to other state funds that together we can fulfill our fiduciary responsibility and work towards a safer world and a more stable economy through a financial commitment to long-term sustainability and resilience.

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With over 20 years of experience in organizing, campaigning, and policy making, Danielle Fox works as the Organizer and Policy Specialist at Climate Finance Action. In that role, she works state-by-state to help equip labor, public officials, and other stakeholders within pension funds to protect their long-term health from climate risk and advance real-world climate solutions for a more just economy.

Mike Powers has been a SEIU Local 503 member leader for over 20 years. At the end of 2024 he completed four years as President of his Union. He followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Steven Demarest, continuing work with Treasury and the Oregon Investment Council to more aggressively reduce the risk from climate change and fossils fuels to the investments that are the foundation of the public sector pension that supports retired workers throughout Oregon. Today he serves SEIU Local 503 as a political and policy strategist, working with member leaders on climate change and other issues.

Steve Demarest is a retired State of Oregon worker and a PERS beneficiary. He is a former PERS Board member and a past president of SEIU 503, Oregon’s largest labor union.