HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 5109
COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO.5109
A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF FOSSIL FUEL
DIVESTMENT.
PASSED: 6:2
REJECTED:
OPPOSED:Clark, Poling
ABSENT:
CONSIDERED:July 16, 2014
RESOLUTION NO. 5109
A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT.
The City Council of the City of Eugene finds that:
A.
The climate crisis is a serious threat to current and future generations here in
Eugene and around the world.
B.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment
Report found that global warming is already causing costly disruption of human and natural
systems throughout the world including the melting of Arctic ice, the ocean’s rise in acidity,
flooding and drought.
C.
Almost every government in the world has agreed through the 2009 Copenhagen
Accord that any warming above a 2C (3.6F) rise would be unsafe, and that humans can only
pour about 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to maintain this limit.
D.
For the purposes of this resolution, a “fossil fuel company” shall be defined as
any of the two hundred publicly-traded companies with the largest coal, oil and gas reserves as
measured by the gigatons of carbon dioxide that would beemitted if those reserves were
extracted and burned, as listed in the Carbon Tracker Initiative’s “Unburnable Carbon” report.
E.
In its “Unburnable Carbon” report, the Carbon Tracker Initiative found that fossil
fuel companies possess proven fossil fuel reserves that would release approximately 2,795
gigatons of CO2 if they are burned, which is five times the amount that can be released without
exceeding 2C of warming.
F.
The City of Eugene has a responsibility to protect the lives and livelihoods of its
inhabitants from the threat of climate change.
G.
The City of Eugene adopted Resolution No. 5064 in support of reducing
greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act.
H.
The City of Eugene is considering an Ordinance on Climate Recovery.
I.
The City of Eugene believes that its investments should support a future where all
citizens can live healthy lives without the negative impacts of a warming environment.
J.
The City of Eugene does not now directly invest in any fossil fuel companies.
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EUGENE, a
Municipal Corporation of the State of Oregon, as follows:
Resolution -Page 1of 2