Belfast Council split on backing fossil fuel divestment
A call by residents for divestment of fossil fuel interests at the state level prompted several Belfast city councilors on Tuesday to question the idea of boycotting companies that most people rely upon. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
David Smith of Belfast spoke on behalf of a group of residents who attended a meeting of the City Council on Tuesday. Smith and others urged the city to support a movement calling upon the state to divest its employee retirement fund of fossil fuel interests. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
City Councilors Mike Hurley and Nancy Hamilton each spoke against the idea of divestment. Hurley later agreed to a tempered support for a citizen initiative seeking to rid the state’s employee retirement fund of fossil fuel company investments. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
Councilors Roger Lee, left, and Eric Sanders both supported calling on the state to change its investments. There was some question among councilors about how the city’s view should be worded. Here, Sanders looks over a resolution drafted by a citizen group. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
A planned renovation of Cross Street came under fire Tuesday for proposed parking that would cut into Belfast Common on the south side of Miller Street. Pictured here, the area would be on the near side of the street running up the hill. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
A call by residents for divestment of fossil fuel interests at the state level prompted several Belfast city councilors on Tuesday to question the idea of boycotting companies that most people rely upon. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
David Smith of Belfast spoke on behalf of a group of residents who attended a meeting of the City Council on Tuesday. Smith and others urged the city to support a movement calling upon the state to divest its employee retirement fund of fossil fuel interests. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
City Councilors Mike Hurley and Nancy Hamilton each spoke against the idea of divestment. Hurley later agreed to a tempered support for a citizen initiative seeking to rid the state’s employee retirement fund of fossil fuel company investments. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
Councilors Roger Lee, left, and Eric Sanders both supported calling on the state to change its investments. There was some question among councilors about how the city’s view should be worded. Here, Sanders looks over a resolution drafted by a citizen group. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
A planned renovation of Cross Street came under fire Tuesday for proposed parking that would cut into Belfast Common on the south side of Miller Street. Pictured here, the area would be on the near side of the street running up the hill. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
BELFAST - Residents seeking the city’s support in a campaign to remove fossil fuel companies from the Maine Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio got an endorsement of sorts, but only narrowly, and with strong reservations from several city councilors.
The group of citizens that appealed to the Council on Tuesday is part of a worldwide “divestment” movement. Supporters hope a boycott of oil, gas and coal companies by large investment pools like state retirement funds and college endowments will spur the private sector to come up with cleaner fuel alternatives.
At several previous meeting, the request was tabled so councilors could learn more. On Tuesday several weighed in with opinions and some supporting evidence.
Councilor Mike Hurley described the call for divestment as “a serious feel-good measure” that was disingenuous given what he saw as a lack of commitment by citizens, himself included, to curb their personal use of gasoline and heating oil.
“I feel really hypocritical supporting it,” he said.
Councilor Nancy Hamilton said divestment would go against the statutory charge of the pension fund’s board of trustees, who are required to attempt to grow the pool of money. She read statements from the presidents of Harvard and Brown Universities, both of whom rejected divestment calls from their constituents. Their reasons ranged widely and touched upon both Hurley’s idea that it was irrational to boycott businesses that most people depend upon, and also Hamilton’s view that the mission of the institutions’ financial stewards shouldn’t be used as a political lever.
“As a council, I don’t think we can ask Maine PERS to do something they can’t do and aren’t allowed to do,” she said.
Hamilton pointed to local initiatives like a volunteer group that built storm windows over the winter to insulate local homes. Actions like these, she said, were more meaningful.
Councilor Roger Lee disagreed with Hamilton’s take. The city would only be urging a change, he said. If it were not legal, the Maine PERS board wouldn’t do it. On Hurley’s characterization of divestment as a feel-good measure, Lee said an action by the Council wouldn’t preclude making personal changes.
“We should do everything we can [personally],” he said, “but there’s nothing wrong with adding another measure that might edge this planet back to safety.”
Lee guessed that there were equally compelling views from institutions that have taken the plunge on divestment and said he wasn’t surprised that the presidents of Harvard and Brown would put their institutions’ endowments before the planet.
Perhaps similarly true to character, Unity College recently became the first institution of higher education in the U.S. to divest from fossil fuels.
At the state level, Rep. Brian Jones of Freedom sponsored a bill last year that would have required Maine PERS to divest its fossil fuel interests within five years. The bill died in committee in January.
A motion to adopt the citizen group’s resolution with minor edits failed by a vote of 2-3, with Lee an Councilor Eric Sanders in favor and Hamilton, Hurley and Councilor Mary Mortier opposed.
Hurley said he could support it if the statement were rewritten and sent by the city manager rather than signed by the Council. Mortier added a caveat that would make the letter contingent upon the findings of a legislative committee currently looking at the legality of divestment by Maine PERS.
The revised motion passed 3-2, this time supported by Mortier, Lee and Hurley, but without Sanders and Hamilton.
In other business, the Council:
• Reviewed a proposed master plan for the airport. The plan would include a potential extension of the runway from the current 4,000 feet to roughly 5,000 feet in order to accommodate larger planes. Economic Development Director and Airport Manager Thomas Kittredge said much of the push for expansion was coming from athenahealth. The company uses the airport regularly and hopes to bring in larger planes capable of traveling longer distances with more passengers.
• Received a petition signed by 238 residents opposing the addition of new parking spaces planned for a section of Belfast Common on the south side of Miller Street. The parking spaces are part of a larger overhaul of nearby Cross Street.
Contact Ethan Andrews at news@penbaypilot.com
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