Fossil fuels, climate advisory committee resolutions move to deputies
By ENS staff | June 30, 2015 |
[Episcopal News Service – Salt Lake City]
The House of Bishops passed two resolutions June 28 and June 29 aimed
at environmentally responsible investing and creating a climate change
advisory committee. The resolutions now move to the House of Deputies
for approval.
Bishops passed Resolution C045, which calls upon the Investment
Committee of Executive Council, the Episcopal Church Endowment Fund and
the Episcopal Church Foundation “to divest from fossil fuel companies
and reinvest in clean renewable energy in a fiscally responsible
manner.”
The amended version of C045, one of four resolutions that called for
fossil fuel divestment, passed the house in a voice vote after an
amendment removed the Church Pension Fund from the resolution.
Retired Bishop of New Hampshire Gene Robinson, an outgoing Church
Pension Fund trustee, proposed the amendment to remove the Church
Pension Fund from the resolution.
“The church and the pension fund are two separate entities, and they
have different missions,” he said, adding that the church’s mission is
to “love God and do good in the world.”
The fund’s mission is to “provide and ensure all pensions promised to all our clergy and our lay employees,” Robinson said.
The pension fund is a corporate entity under New York law, Robinson
said. “We are not allowed to defer from our fiduciary responsibility. If
the resolution passed as written … the pension fund would have to say
no,” he said. “It’s not as simple as it may seem.” He cited a similar
problem that the United Church of Christ experienced.
A large number of assets in portfolios are combined, he explained.
“You can’t just slip one or two or five out of there. You have to leave
that fund.” In some cases, the Church Pension Fund worked for decades to
get into these funds; once you leave, you can’t return, he said. “It
would come at an enormous cost to us.”
At least four other bishops testified in favor of the amendment to
remove the pension fund from the resolution, all citing fiduciary duty.
Bishop Suffragan Paul E. Lambert of Dallas warned of the unintended
consequences of including the pension fund, which could affect pensions
of younger clergy and those working in smaller congregations, he said.
Others, like Bishop Scott Barker of Nebraska whose diocese submitted
one of the four divestment resolutions, opposed the amendment, saying,
“Money is power.”
The Episcopal Church has financial assets totaling billions of
dollars; more than $380 million in trust assets; $9 billion in clergy
retirement funds; and another $4 billion among parishes and dioceses.
“Importantly, the church endeavors to make a difference with its money –
by investing in socially responsible ways,” according to a report on
responsible corporate investment submitted to General Convention from
the Executive Council Investment Committee.
The Church Pension Group, which includes the Church Pension Fund, is
an independent agency of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society;
its policies are not bound by General Convention resolutions. The
Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society is the name under which The
Episcopal Church is incorporated, conducts business, and carries out
mission.
Following a June 25 hearing of the Environmental Stewardship and Care
of Creation Committee, T. Dennis Sullivan, retired president of the
Church Pension Fund and a member of the Executive Council Investment
Committee, said he doesn’t think there’s disagreement on whether or not
there exists a need to address climate change, but rather whether
divestment is the right strategy.
“I think it does come down to, when we’re considering divestment, a
judgment about whether divestment is going to further the goals that we
all share,” Sullivan told Episcopal News Service. “And here is where I
think the disagreement can occur. I would argue that divestment not only
is likely to be ineffective for a variety of reasons, but also
counterproductive to the broad goal of improving the environment.”
Matt Gobush, a visitor from the Diocese of Dallas, and former chair
of the Standing Committee on International Peace and Justice, came to
convention to testify on both resolutions favoring creating an advisory
committee that could empower individuals, congregations and dioceses to
make everyday changes to reduce their carbon footprints.
“(Divestment) would be very costly to the church and have very little
impact,” said Gobush, who is a senior adviser for integrated advocacy,
public and government affairs at ExxonMobil, during a June 28 interview
with ENS. “There are more effective ways that the church can do so. Now
I’m speaking as an Episcopalian and an individual about what I can do
personally to decrease my carbon footprint that ultimately is more
effective than divestment.
“And ultimately divestment is divisive … it’s basically saying that
we don’t want to talk to you anymore. We no longer want to be a
shareholder, we no longer want to use our influence as a church to make
our views know inside a corporate boardrooms.”
The global campaign to divest from fossil fuels has gained momentum
and has become the most talked about divestment movement since that of
apartheid South Africa. Cape Town Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who
fought against apartheid in South Africa, is a strong voice in the
movement to divest from fossil fuels.
A handful of dioceses across The Episcopal Church have passed
resolutions in favor of divestment, including Western Massachusetts,
Massachusetts and Newark. GreenFaith, an interfaith environmental
organization rooted in Diocese of Newark, and others have called for
divestment in fossil fuels.
“You might have been surprised to see a divestment and reinvestment
resolution from Nebraska,” said the Rev. Betsy Bennett, a deputy from
the Diocese of Nebraska. “This spring and early summer have brought
record-breaking rainfalls to Nebraska and many areas have been flooded
at least once this year. The little parish church in DeWitt, Nebraska,
had 4 feet of water in its basement this spring and it’s still drying
up.
“Nebraska’s prosperity rests on agriculture. Agriculture depends on
climate stability. Don’t be surprised by our concern. We know something
isn’t right. We know our way of life is threatened, our farms and
ranches, and God have mercy on us, the lives of our children and
grandchildren are threatened. More of us would like to be able to use
clean energy instead. Help us choose life. Divest and reinvest.”
For two years, Episcopalians in favor of divestment have been working
to facilitate the conversations that led up to the introduction of the
General Convention resolutions, said the Rev. Stephanie Johnson, who
serves on Executive Council’s Science, Technology and Faith Committee.
“We met with Church Pension Fund, we met with the Episcopal Church
Foundation, to tell them we wanted to move divestment; we wanted to be
straightforward with them, tell them what we were working on and tell
them we are committed to this,” she said in an June 29 interview with
ENS.
“We heard a lot from them, they heard a lot from us, and that was
part of our strategy, to have a lot of conversations. And Committee 16
(Environmental Stewardship and Care of Creation), this new environmental
committee, did a phenomenal job of taking four resolutions and putting
it together into a robust, thoughtful resolution that offers the church a
way forward in this and gives it a really prophetic voice.”
Johnson praised the House of Bishops for passing C045.
“I’m so energized by this, this is huge,” said Johnson. “I mean this
is what we’ve been hoping for, and as for dioceses and individual
congregations, the resolution that was crafted said we are inviting them
into conversation and reflection. This is not a call for them to do it,
this is an invitation for them, if they would like to participate in
divestment.”
In April, the Church of England,
citing
“a moral responsibility to protect the world’s poor from the impact of
global warming” announced it would divest from tar sands oil and thermal
coal, two of the most heavily polluting fossil fuels. It did not
completely divest from all oil and gas companies where its corporate
engagement has had some success.
The Episcopal Church engages in shareholder advocacy through the
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
The House of Bishops adopted Resolution A030, which originally called
for the creation of a task force, but was modified to call for the
creation of a climate change advisory committee with one representative
from each of The Episcopal Church’s nine provinces. The resolution also
calls on each province to create a Regional Consultative Group composed
“of no fewer than five experts in areas of environmental sustainability
appropriate to the demographic, ecological, cultural and geographic
specifics of each region.”
Diocese of Florida Bishop S. Johnson Howard offered an amendment,
adding language stipulating that the advisory committee membership would
represent what he described as “the diversity of scientific opinion on
climate change and global warming” in order to give the committee’s work
credibility in the wider world.
Two bishops responded that they believe, with the scientific
community decidedly on one side of climate change at this point, little
credible diversity could be added. The amendment failed.
Bishop of Rhode Island Nick Knisely, the resolution’s proposer,
testified during a hearing of the Committee on Environmental Stewardship
and Care of Creation, that the resolution was not intended to start an
argument about the existence of climate change, but rather to provide
the church with the resources to respond pastorally to people who are
affected by climate change.
— Lynette
Wilson, an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service, and General
Convention correspondents Tracy J. Sukraw and Sharon Sheridan
contributed to this report.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/06/30/fossil-fuels-climate-advisory-committee-resolutions-move-to-house-of-deputies/
http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/A030/current_english_text
http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/C045/current_english_text
