Magaziner to Announce Significant Reduction in RI Pension Fund Exposure to Fossil Fuel

Providence, RI— Tomorrow, Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner will commemorate Earth Day by announcing a significant decrease in the Rhode Island pension fund’s exposure to companies that engage in the production and distribution of fossil fuels. In addition to highlighting recent progress, the Treasurer will outline further action to come.

Climate change poses an imminent threat to Rhode Islanders. In order to preserve the wellbeing of our state and the planet, the future must lie in clean energy and not in the large scale burning of fossil fuels.

Under Treasurer Magaziner’s Back to Basics investment strategy, the Rhode Island pension fund has consistently outperformed its peers and reached an all time high of more than $9.5 billion. To continue to deliver upon the promise of retirement security for all 60,000 members of the Rhode Island pension fund, the fund must shift capital away from the legacy industries of the past and towards the technologies of the future. During the event, Treasurer Magaziner will also provide details on the pension fund’s investments in renewable energy projects that provide strong returns for investors.

As Treasurer, Magaziner has prioritized the environment by creating revolving funds at the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank that have invested more than $120 million in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs across Rhode Island. He is also a founding member of Climate Jobs RI, a coalition of labor and environmental groups committed to building a clean economy in Rhode Island, and a winner of Clean Water Action RI’s Elected Official of the Year award.

Who: Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner;

Jonathan Stone, Executive Director, Save the Bay;

Priscilla De La Cruz, President, Environment Council of Rhode Island

Where: Save the Bay

` 100 Save the Bay Drive

Providence, RI 02905

When: Wednesday, April 21, 2021

11AM