Investors Oppose Draft Proposal to Expand Offshore Drilling in US Coastal Waters

    WASHINGTON, DC, March 15, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, together with investors representing more than $30 billion in assets under management, submitted a letter to the US Department of the Interior opposing its draft proposal for the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.

Investors are concerned the Draft Proposed Program would greatly expand offshore drilling in the US waters of the National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) by making over 90 percent of its acreage available for future oil and gas exploration and development. Currently, under the approved 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, only 6 percent of the OCS is open to exploration and drilling.

"Increasing the OCS available to oil and gas development from 6 percent to 90 percent does not reflect a strategy that considers the economic, social and environmental imperative to mitigate climate change and safeguard our coastlines," according to the letter, which was signed by a group of 31 investors, including money managers and faith-based investment funds.

The letter continues: "The global investor community recognizes that in order to prevent average global temperatures from rising to more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, roughly 80 percent of proven fossil fuel reserves must remain unburned. It is therefore reckless to invite oil and gas companies to increase their sunk costs in what are likely to be stranded assets."

To read the full letter, click here.

About US SIF

US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment is the leading voice advancing sustainable, responsible and impact investing across all asset classes. Its mission is to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability, focusing on long-term investment and the generation of positive social and environmental impacts. US SIF members include investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, asset owners, research firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, community investing organizations and nonprofit organizations. The 8th US SIF Annual Conference will take place from May 30 - June 1, 2018 in Washington, DC.

US SIF is supported in its work by the US SIF Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization that undertakes educational, research and programmatic activities to advance the mission of US SIF, including offering trainings for advisors and other financial professionals on the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Impact Investment. Learn more at www.ussif.org.

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