API NY: De Blasio’s actions to hurt pension holders are disgraceful

ALBANY, N.Y., January 10, 2018 – API New York Executive Director Karen Moreau released the following statement on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement to divest the city’s pensions from oil and natural gas.

“Today Mayor de Blasio turned his back on millions of first responders, police officers, firefighters and other public employees who depend on their pensions to provide for themselves and their families in retirement,” said API New York Executive Director Karen Moreau. “Government pension managers have a responsibility by law to seek the greatest return for their investors and pensions that invest in oil and natural gas companies have historically delivered a higher return than other investments. Deliberately hurting pension holders, like the fine men and women who keep our city safe, is a disgraceful way to score cheap political points. Elected officials should never use taxpayer resources to hijack public pensions to advance a wrong-headed political ideology. Further, our industry has led the way in reducing U.S. carbon emissions to their lowest levels in nearly 25 years due to the increased use of clean and abundant natural gas to deliver reliable electricity.”

API New York is a division of API, which represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 625 members produce, process, and distribute most of the nation’s energy. The industry supports 10.3 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 40 million Americans.

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