To: Mayor Michael P. Cahill and the Beverly City Council
Divest Beverly from Fossil Fuels!
The City of Beverly should immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuels, and divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds within 5 years.
Why is this important?
Beverly, like every city, town, state, and country, is at a pivotal moment in history. Man-made climate change is causing environmental devastation and human suffering here in Beverly and around the world. We still have the power to avert irreversible changes, but the window of opportunity is closing. Divesting from the fossil fuels that are causing climate change is a crucial step toward ensuring a sustainable future for Beverly and the rest of the world.
Our local government has a responsibility to divest from an industry that’s destroying our future, and reinvest in solutions to climate change.
We can not count on the federal government, even as extreme weather events like the record-breaking winter storms of 2014-2015 overwhelm local budgets. We have the solutions, but we won’t see any political progress on the issue until we can weaken the power of the fossil fuel industry.
The bottom line is this: divestment is the only moral choice for governments that care about their citizens. Solving the climate crisis is the only practical choice for governments that care about their solvency. It's time to divest from fossil fuels now!
