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For Immediate Release
January, 24 2021, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Lindsay Meiman,Senior U.S. Communications Specialist,lindsay@350.org,us-comms@350.org,+1 347 460 9082,New York, USA
NYC Pension Funds Begin Historic Fossil Fuel Divestment
New Yorkers applaud as the NYC pension funds, led by Comptroller Stringer and Mayor de Blasio, begin to dump $4 billion invested in Exxon and other Oil & Gas corporations in a historic win for climate action.
WASHINGTON
Today, New York City's largest pension funds voted to initiate full fossil fuel divestment, selling off an estimated $4 billion of holdings in fossil fuel corporations, such as ExxonMobil. New York City's announcement fulfills its commitment to divest from fossil fuels. The city's pension funds, valued at $239 billion are the largest municipal pension funds to divest globally.
"New York City has set a new bar for climate finance action. Today's landmark action marks a bad day for Big Oil and a good day for the City's pension systems and our planet. By taking billions out of the companies that own and profit off of fossil fuels, New York City is playing an enormous role in moving the financial industry towards a greener future," said Bill McKibben, author and co-founder of 350.org.
New York City's divestment commitment, made in 2018, inspired further action worldwide. It was followed by commitments from many other large funds, including the City of London, the Norwegian Sovereign Fund, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund. Today's announcement confirms the City's commitment to divest from fossil fuels within five years.
"My family lost everything to hurricane Sandy, a climate disaster. I am so happy now to see the pension funds dump billions of dollars of investments in the likes of Exxon. We worked hard to get to this moment. Our movement is rising!" said Rachel Rivera, a Sandy survivor and member of New York Communities for Change.
"Thanks to the Comptroller, Mayor, Trustees and eight years of grassroots activism, we are finally turning the tide against the inertia of business as usual and the funding of our own demise, giving concrete hope for a more sustainable future. May this move inspire other leaders to urgently follow suit," said Lyna Hinkel, Founder, 350NYC.
Fossil fuel corporations are seen as an increasingly bad risk for portfolio managers and have underperformed financial markets for years.
"New York is a beacon of real climate leadership, as our City's pension funds divest over $4 billion from climate criminals like ExxonMobil," said Lindsay Meiman, 350.org Communications Manager and lifelong New Yorker. "We are re-engineering resilience, and if New York can do it, every single pension, university, bank, and insurer can cut ties with fossil fuels too."
The pension fund trustees vote follows previous action to hire consultants to advise the city on divestment (2018 - 2020), prepare a divestment study (2020), and ongoing fiduciary review.
"It is right and just that, in the midst of the deadly pandemic, our beloved NYC is choosing life over death and acting on its commitment to divest the pension funds from fossil fuel investments," said Marilyn Vasta, for Peoples Climate Movement NY. "For too long we have financially supported the polluters that harm us; it is time to make polluters pay as we invest in a just transition to renewable energy. Although it has taken almost a decade, from small living room meetings to a city-wide cry for divestment, the Peoples Climate Movement-NY proudly stands today with Comptroller Stringer and Mayor de Blasio, and applaud them for taking this positive step towards a fossil free future."
Divestment has exploded over the past decade from a symbolic action by small college endowments into a worldwide movement that has led to over $14 trillion worth of investment funds divesting or committing to divest from the oil, gas or coal industries.
In order to fulfill the Paris climate agreement's goals of staving off catastrophic climate change, all major finance of fossil fuels and deforestation must end by 2030.
"Humanity is engaged in an epic battle to save the planet for future generations.The enemy is fossil fuels, and every step that works toward shutting them down is critical. Kudos to NYC for doing its part," said Jordan Dale with the #DivestNY coalition and 350NJ-Rockland.
Members of the #DivestNY coalition, Comptroller Stringer, and pension fund trustees will view and join tomorrow's daily briefing held by Mayor de Blasio to detail the announcement and celebrate. The briefing can be viewed live at www.nyc.gov. It is scheduled for 10 am EST.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
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Israeli Use of AI Weapons in Gaza Denounced as Blatant Violation of Treaty Obligations
"As the Israeli military weaponizes AI for oppression, the world must confront this hypocrisy and hold it accountable to save lives," said Jewish Voice for Peace.
Nov 20, 2024
Amid reporting that the Israel Defense Forces is using an artificial intelligence weapons system touted as improving "operator lethality," Jewish Voice for Peace said Israel's use of technological warfare is "nothing new"—but pointed out that the new reports follow the country's signing of "the first global 'safety' AI treaty."
The Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, spearheaded by the Council of Europe, was signed by Israel in September, and "claims to be a legal framework governing AI systems to mitigate risks to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law—but the Israeli military is using AI to do precisely the opposite," said JVP.
The Jewish-led advocacy group spoke out after Middle East Eye (MEE)reported that the IDF has been using a weapons system in Gaza that came out of a collaboration between Israeli Weapons Industries and the Indian company Adani Defence & Aerospace.
The AI system, Arbel, was first unveiled at a defense expo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in October 2022. MEE reported it is capable of turning "machine guns and assault rifles into computerized killing machines," using algorithms to increase Israeli soldiers' chances of hitting targets with accuracy and "efficiency."
The huge death toll in Gaza—which is conservatively estimated to be about 44,000 but which nearly 100 medical professionals estimated to be more than 118,000 last month, based on their experiences in hospitals there—has previously been linked to Israel's use of AI.
As Common Dreams reported in April, an AI machine called Lavender has been used by the IDF to devise "kill lists," with the military deeming 100 civilian deaths for every Hamas official an acceptable error rate. In December, the Israeli outlets +972 Magazine and Local Callreported that another AI machine called Gospel has been used to target dozens of buildings per day.
Defense analysts told MEE that Arbel has likely been used to "carry out the carnage of Palestinians in a more efficient manner in Gaza."
Antony Loewenstein, an independent journalist who tracks the use of technological warfare in Gaza and the West Bank, told MEE that as Israel has used numerous AI systems over the past 13 months, "targeting civilians was the point. It was never about just going after Hamas."
"I have spoken to people in Gaza, I have seen the direct human impact of this kind of killing," he told the outlet. "It is horrific."
Research analyst Noah Sylvia of the Royal United Services Institute in London told MEE that the IDF "has demonstrated a disregard for civilian life in Gaza to the point of routinely targeting children with small arms, meaning that Arbel could easily be used to make the killing of civilians, of children, more efficient."
The impact of the AI system depends "on the military's operating procedures and commitment to international humanitarian law," said Sylvia.
Humanitarian groups and human rights experts have said Israel is blatantly disregarding international law with its near-total blockade of aid into Gaza and its attacks—some with U.S. weapons—on civilians infrastructure.
JVP said the IDF's use of Arbel indicates Israel is also violating the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, and noted reports that the military has also used "facial recognition technology and advanced weapons to monitor, silence dissent, cut internet access, and obscure its war crimes."
Marwa Fatafta, Middle East policy and advocacy director for Access Now, warned that Israel's partnering with India—where AI companies reportedly have the sixth-highest AI investments in the world at $7.73 billion—may provide "a new and terrifying blueprint for tech-enabled warfare... this time through Indian-Israel military tech."
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A group of progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders' joint resolutions of disapproval that would block sales of American weapons to Israel as its troops continue to lay waste to the Gaza Strip.
Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the six resolutions in September and plans to force a vote on Wednesday. In a statement led by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the House members said that "if given the opportunity to do so, we would vote in favor of S.J. Res. 111, S.J. Res. 113, and S.J. Res. 115."
Jayapal was joined by Democratic Reps. Becca Balint (Vt.), Joaquin Castro (Texas), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Sara Jacobs (Calif.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.).
While condemning the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack and backing "defensive systems that are designed to meet Israel's security needs," the nine House members also argued that "the United States must use all available leverage, including the suspension of offensive weapons transfers, to de-escalate the violence and protect the lives of hostages, including Americans, Palestinian civilians, and all those impacted by the ongoing conflict."
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The coalition also pointed to the Biden administration's mid-October letter, which threatened to cut off U.S. weapons unless the Israeli government took "urgent and sustained actions" to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza within 30 days.
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Sanders announced plans to bring his resolutions to a vote after a U.S. State Department spokesperson last week responded to a question about the Biden administration's deadline by declaring that Israel is not violating federal and international law.
Warning that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House in January "will only embolden" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right ministers, the House members asserted that a vote for the resolutions "is a vote to politically restrain the Netanyahu government from any forthcoming efforts to formally annex the West Bank and settle parts of Gaza."
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American in Congress, said on social media Wednesday, "Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act is very clear: The U.S. cannot provide weapons to any country that 'prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.'"
Biden "has refused to enforce U.S. law and stop sending weapons to the Israeli government as they commit genocide in Gaza and use starvation as a weapon of war," Tlaib added. "Today, every senator will have to decide if they will vote to uphold our own laws and block arms sales to Israel."
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Although the resolutions are not expected to pass even in the Senate, "the Biden administration is aggressively pushing senators to bless continued U.S. weapons shipments for Israel ahead of a first-of-its-kind vote in Congress on the policy," HuffPostrevealed Wednesday after obtaining a copy of talking points the White House is circulating on Capitol Hill.
"Administration officials are suggesting lawmakers who vote against the arms are empowering American and Israeli foes from Iran to the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, which the U.S. treats as terror organizations," HuffPost reported. "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is also privately pressing senators to endorse the ongoing flow of military equipment to Israel, according to one of the aides."
Responding to the report on social media, Sanders ally and Arab American Institute president James Zogby—who is considering a run for Democratic National Committee chair—said that "this White House effort is disgraceful."
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, whose unsuccessful 2022 Pennsylvania Senate bid included pitching voters on a plan to expand the privatized Medicare Advantage program, is now in a position to potentially actualize that plan.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Oz, also known by his TV personality name Dr. Oz, is his pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
"Dr. Oz—a massive investor in Pharma—told the voters of Pennsylvania his plans to privatize Medicare… and they rejected him. Now Trump is giving him the authority to see his industry-approved plan carried through," wrote the progressive-leaning outlet The Lever, which covered Oz's support for Medicare Advantage back in 2022.
Through Medicare Advantage, which has been promoted by Trump and other congressional Republicans, seniors can opt out of traditional government-run Medicare health plans and instead choose plans administered by private insurers, such as UnitedHealthcare and Cigna.
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Oz "is not a good pick for a very powerful position in charge of a trillion dollars of healthcare spending," wrote Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project on X, in reference to The Lever's investigation.
The Lever also reported that Oz's plan to expand private plans under Medicare Advantage could "boost companies in which he invests." For example, Oz and his wife owned up to $550,000 worth of stock in UnitedHealth Group, at the time of reporting. UnitedHealthcare and Humana account for nearly half, or 47%, of Medicare Advantage enrollees nationwide, according to the health policy organization KFF.
Additionally, a 2022 investigation by The New York Timesfound that major health insurers have exploited Medicare Advantage to boost their profits by billions of dollars.
Project 2025, a list of right-wing policy proposals led by the Heritage Foundation that Trump has tried to distance himself from, calls for making Medicare Advantage the default option for Medicare beneficiaries, which, if enacted, "would be a multibillion-dollar annual giveaway to corporations at the expense of Medicare enrollees and taxpayers," according to the liberal research and advocacy organization the Center for American Progress.
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, offered a related critique of Oz: Americans "need someone who will crack down on insurers who want to deny care to the sick, providers who skimp on quality healthcare, corporations that want to privatize Medicare, and Big Pharma profiteers and ideologues who want to slash Medicaid and refuse care to low-income people. What they do not need is a healthcare huckster, which unfortunately Dr. Mehmet Oz appears to have become, having spent much of his recent career hawking products of dubious medical value."
In addition to the potential boon for private insurers, some researchers, news outlets, and members of Congress have also raised concerns about the quality of care administered under Medicare Advantage.
A 2022 government report found that "[Medicare Advantage Organizations] sometimes delayed or denied Medicare Advantage beneficiaries' access to services, even though the requests met Medicare coverage rules" and also "denied payments to providers for some services that met both Medicare coverage rules and [Medicare Advantage Organization] billing rules."
In October, a group of three Democratic lawmakers wrote to the current CMS administrator about increasingly widespread abuses and care denials by for-profit Medicare Advantage insurers.
"We are concerned that in many instances MA plans are failing to deliver, compromising timely access to care, and undermining the ability of seniors and Americans with disabilities to purchase the coverage that’s right for them," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) wrote in a letter.
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Social Security Works, a progressive advocacy group, warned in a social media post Tuesday that "Dr. Oz wants to fully privatize Medicare."
"That's why Donald Trump put him in charge of Medicare," the group added. "We will fight to stop this charlatan from getting anywhere near our Medicare system."
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