youth vs apocalypse

1019

youth v apoc

 less than 11 years to get the world off fossil fuels, and yet California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS), still has more than $6 billion dollars invested in fossil fuels. Most teachers have no idea about these destructive investments! A coalition of active and retired teachers, elementary through junior college, and concerned citizens, have been speaking for the last five years at CalSTRS meetings. However, the Board members have yet to change their allegiance to the fossil fuel industry. They have even been censoring the youth testimonies so you are not able to find students’ voices included in the public record.

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CalSTRS, the largest public teachers’ pension fund in the country, currently invests over $6 billionin the fossil fuel industry—an investment that is both immoral and financially under-performing. Divesting this fund from fossil fuels will improve teachers’ retirement income, and send a huge message to global financial markets that fossil fuel investments are no longer acceptable. Reinvesting those funds in the clean energy economy will give our kids’ futures a fighting chance.

So this year #YourTeacherHasHomework.  We want teachers to tell CalSTRS to divest from fossil fuels; and we want teachers to tell their union chapter to pass a resolution for CalSTRS to divest.

What You Can Do to Help

• Contact your teachers’ union and ask it to endorse a resolution to divest CalSTRS.
• Add your voice to the thousands who have already urged CalSTRS to divest: Sign our petition
• Want to gather petition signatures?  Download Blank Petition
• Want to contact the Board directly? Send a personal message to the CalSTRS Board at board@calstrs.com

https://fossilfreeca.org/campaigns/#CalSTRS

May 8th, Fossil Free California teamed up with students from Youth vs. Apocalypse and Earth Guardians to bring our message straight to CalSTRS—divest from fossil fuels! More than 20 students skipped school that day to tell the CalSTRS Investment Committee to stop investing in the destruction of their future.

CalSTRS was so taken aback that they attempted to censor the youths' testimony by refusing to record it on their video live-stream. That didn't stop the word from getting out, however, as several radio stations covered the event, including KPFA: listen here.

Inspired by this success, the students have promised to return to CalSTRS' meetings in July and September, and FFCA has hired a part-time organizer to make sure that many more students join us at these next meeting

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