MI COLEGA EN EL ECOLOGISMO
by Antonio C. Antonio
September 23, 2014
My dear friend and colleague in environmentalism, Ms.
Jeannie Mahoney, posted this letter on my Facebook wall today. I would like to share it with all my
pro-environment advocate friends…
“Hello
dear Anton, my environmental colleague --
News
from NBC, ABC, CBS, CNBC:
You’ll
be very pleased to hear that today, the day of the Autumnal Equinox, one day
after the largest Climate March assembled in New York City, and one day before
the President of the United States addresses the United Nations to open its
Summit on Climate Change, the investment sector has lent credence to further
the protection of our environment by beginning a world-wide divestiture of its
holdings from fossil fuels to a commitment of
investments in sustainable energy.
The
Rockefeller Brothers Fund today initiated a core-rattling challenge to the
world-wide consortium of investment houses by announcing its withdrawal of
$860M in assets from oil, beginning with tar sands. Kersplat! I could hear the
jaws of the financial houses hit the board room tables all at once! This
decision has given a symbolic boost to the new global campaign to divest $50Bn
from fossil fuels to invest in sustainable energy in the next 3 years.
As you
know Anton, but for oil, there may not have been a Rockefeller fortune. John
and William Rockefeller were the co-founders of the Standard Oil Company, which
at the time operated the world’s biggest refineries, and over time spawned
Exxon-Mobil, Amoco and Chevron. John D. Rockefeller was the first to extract
oil from the ground in the United States; he was also the first tycoon to feel
the brunt of the US Anti-Trust laws from amassing unheard of amounts of money
from oil. He was forced to break up Standard Oil to level the playing field.
His heirs, whom I watched in the evening news a few minutes ago, believe that
if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he
would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy. I
applaud their decision!
In
addition to the Rockefellers, the World Council of Churches, representing some
590 million people in 150 countries – also pulled its investments from fossil
fuels on Monday. The divestiture represented a turning point for a small
movement which began by demanding that universities and municipal pension funds
purge their investments of ties to the fossil fuel industry. About 30 cities
now have chosen to divest, including Santa Monica and Seattle. I am working on
the City of Sacramento to follow suit, though I’m proud to say that the Pension
Fund for California state workers has freed itself of any oil holdings.
A
number of universities have also started to cut their ties with fossil fuel,
starting with Stanford University dropping coal holdings from its $18B
endowment. The University of California, Harvard, and Yale are right behind, I
understand.
This is
a day of joy for me! I know my little grandbabies will have a cleaner future. I
hope you’re as happy as I am!”
You
could bet your bottom dollar that I am very happy my friend, Jeannie. Thank you so much for the great news! We all have reasons to rejoice! Tomorrow will be a big day for Mother Earth! “There is a sense that change is in the
air. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
has invited world leaders, from government, finance, business, and civil
society to Climate Summit 2014 this 23 September to galvanize and catalyze
climate action. He has asked these
leaders to bring bold announcements and actions to the Summit that will reduce
emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and mobilize political will for a
meaningful legal agreement in 2015.
Climate Summit 2014 provides a unique opportunity for leaders to
champion an ambitious vision, anchored in action that will enable a meaningful
global agreement in 2015.” (http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/) With the good news that Jeannie shared, we are
very glad that the United States, through President Barack H. Obama, has
finally recognized the need for the US to gradually cut on carbon emission. The US initiative will certainly move/compel
China, India, Russia and Japan (the other members of the Top Five Carbon
Emitters) to also do the same. God bless
America!
To you my friend
Jeannie, thank you for doing your part in convincing the City of Sacramento to
contribute to the effort. Estoy muy orgulloso de ser su amigo; me colega en el
ecologismo. (I am so proud to be your friend; my colleague in
environmentalism.)
Just my little thoughts…
(Please visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders and
Landscape Ecology UPOU on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/)
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