On November 15 2021, the City of San Diego made a historic decision to divest from fossil fuel companies.
In an 8-1 vote on Monday the City of San Diego passed the City Treasurer's 2022 Investment Policy with language that "the City shall not purchase any investment issued by a corporation that engages directly in oil exploration, production, drilling, or refining of coal, petroleum or natural gas."
The vote comes on the heels of the Huntington Beach oil spill which highlighted the destructive toll that oil extraction continues to take on local communities.
The new policy will be revisited annually and the City will divest $17.5 million in commercial paper and medium-term notes issued by Chevron by the end of this year in order to comply with the 2022 policy.
A press release issued by Mayor Todd Gloria's office in support of the policy noted that such an investment policy would be consistent with San Diego's climate action goals.
Councilmember Joe La Cava led the motion to approve at the meeting, and elaborated: "A climate action plan designed to accelerate clean energy adoption cannot support the proliferation of the fossil fuels it seeks to eliminate."
Surfrider San Diego has supported a socially responsible investment policy at the City since 2019. The 2022 policy can be viewed here, the referenced policy is section X.
