The funds submitting the resolutions are the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), the Police Pension Fund, the Fire Department Pension Fund and the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS). Co-sponsoring the resolutions are several public interest environmental groups, socially responsible investment funds, religious groups, and concerned shareholders.

The resolutions were submitted to fuel and power companies with more than $446 million invested in the pension funds. The fuel companies are Apache of Irvine, CA, which has more than $46.2 million invested in the funds, and ChevronTexaco of San Ramon, CA, which has more than $337.7 million invested. The power company is Dominion of High Point, NC, with more than $62.8 million invested in the five funds.

“With increasing credible, scientific evidence that global warming is occurring, and given the potential environmental and regulatory impacts across companies and industries, the boards of directors of public companies should direct their managements to assess these effects and to disclose the findings to their shareholders,” Comptroller Thompson said.

The resolutions call for:

• A discussion of the environmental requirements that the company currently faces and may face in the future, with particular attention to an assessment of current proposals for mandatory constraints on carbon dioxide emission; and,
• An assessment of the strategic options the company could take to respond to these requirements, with emphasis on their impacts on shareholder value and the competitive position of the company; and,
• An evaluation of the actions the company is taking and ways to respond to current and future requirements as well as an assessment of the current and proposed actions on shareholder value.

The city funds have already met success in urging companies to take steps to reduce global warming. Last year, the funds, in conjunction with other institutional shareholders, spearheaded resolutions that earned precedent-setting agreements with American Electric Power (AEP) and Cinergy Oil. The companies agreed to address regulatory reforms and reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions. Cinergy also agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by five percent below 2000 levels by the year 2010.

Trustees of the five pension systems are:

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Comptroller Thompson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Peter Gorman, President and Captains’ Rep., Nicholas J. Visconti, Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Comptroller Thompson; Mayor Bloomberg; Commissioner Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edwin Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Anthony Garvey, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, John Driscoll, Captains Endowment Association.

NYCERS: Comptroller Thompson; Commissioner Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents C. Virginia Fields (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Carroll (Carl) Haynes, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

TRS: Comptroller Thompson; Commissioner Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

BERS: Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Phillip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Souza Kappner, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Jesse Mojica (Bronx), Martine Guerrier (Brooklyn), Jacquelyn Kamin (Manhattan), Michael Flowers (Queens) and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Thomas J. Malanga, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891, and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.