Editorial: Fossil fuel divestment should be higher priority in California

In a state whose leaders speak with urgency about fighting climate change, it’s shameful and hypocritical that CalPERS and CalSTRS have billions of dollars in public employees’ retirement money invested in planet-wrecking fossil fuel companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell.

Lawmakers were considering changing that by forcing the nation’s two largest public pension funds to divest their holdings in big oil, gas and coal companies by 2031. Legislation to do so cleared the state Senate last month.