San Jose, CA – On Thursday, November 6, dozens of people attended the Santa Clara County Finance and Government Operations Committee (FGOC) meeting in support of an ethical investment policy that would bar the county from investing further into fossil fuel companies.
Signs held by attendees read, “Divest from genocide” and “Divest from fossil fuels.”
At the meeting people spoke to the County Supervisors Susan Ellenberg and Betty Duong, calling on them to forward the Sustainability Commission’s guidance to divest from fossil fuels with a positive recommendation.
Organizations such as Council on American-Islamic Relations San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA), San Jose Against War, Democratic Socialists of America Silicon Valley, San Jose Peace and Justice Center, Sierra Club, Climate Reality and more were represented in the public comment section.
Drusie Kasanova of San Jose Against War spoke to the committee saying, “This recommendation is sorely needed because in the past, the county has chosen to invest in Chevron and Exxon, both of which accelerated the climate crisis and profited from the genocide of the Palestinian people.”
Wendy Greenfield, a Jewish social activist, advocated for divesting from Chevron saying, “Adopt a policy not to invest in fossil fuels and companies complicit in genocide.”
Greenfield continued saying, “The values of justice and the sanctity of life must be the way of life for citizens and officials that represent us.”
Philip Nguyen, an SEIU 521 steward, spoke to the committee saying, “Please advocate for working families worldwide and not invest in companies that are actively burning away a future that families want to raise their families in.”
After the in-person and online comments were made, the subcommittee unanimously passed the consent calendar item containing the positive recommendation for sustainable investments which would bar the county from investing in fossil fuel companies.
#SanJoseCA #CA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #CAIR #SJAW
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