The president could facilitate one of the world's biggest fossil fuel divestments—but he's dragging his feet.
The Biden administration has signaled its commitment to tackling the financial risks posed by climate change through executive orders and key appointments. But advocates say the president is missing an easy opportunity for big climate progress: divesting the Thrift Savings Plan , the federal employee pension fund.
Joe Biden fails to seize an easy climate-change win. President Biden listens during a virtual meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on July 30, 2021 in Washington.Federal employees and lawmakers are now escalating a campaign to pressure the FRTIB to divest from fossil fuels, arguing that it is the board's fiduciary duty to do so.
The GAO released its report this June, concluding that the TSP's passive investment strategy exposed it to climate-related financial risks. Moreover, it found"in managing the TSP, the FRTIB has not explicitly assessed the potential financial impact of climate change on the $700 billion in assets it manages for 6 million active and retired federal workers."
She added:"The FRTIB, by law, is supposed to act in the sole fiduciary interests of their 6.2 million participants. FRTIB officials told the GAO that they are so constrained by law that they must institute a passive investment strategy that may not take into account climate risk. We ask that you protect federal employees from this view and do an independent survey of the FRTIB's legal authority.
"If this fund had divested from fossil fuels 10 years ago, the returns would have been higher, retirees would have been better off," he said, citing studies showing that funds without fossil fuels have outperformed those with fossil fuels.
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