Top Democrat’s plan: Divest in coal to fight global warming

Governor Jerry Brown speaks during the California Climate Leadership Forum at the Kaiser Center in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, December 15, 2014. Governor Jerry Brown speaks during the California Climate Leadership Forum at the Kaiser Center in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, December 15, 2014. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Top Democrat’s plan: Divest in coal to fight global warming 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

With Republicans threatening to shove climate change to the back seat as they take control of the U.S. Senate, state officials including Gov. Jerry Brown huddled with one of the nation’s leading Democratic donors Monday to talk up ways to keep it on California’s agenda — including legislation that could send a shiver through the coal industry.

The state Senate’s top leader said at an Oakland forum organized by billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer that he’s planning to introduce a measure next year to require the state’s public-employee pension funds to sell their coal-related investments.

“Climate change is the top priority of the California state Senate,” said Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles. He said his legislation would require that the California Public Employees Retirement System, which manages public employees’ pensions and health benefits, and the California State Teachers Retirement System divest millions of dollars in coal-related investments.

“Coal is a dirty fossil fuel, and we generate very little electricity in California from coal,” de León said. “And I think our values should shift in California.”

But not oil and gas

De León, who just returned from an international climate-change summit in Peru, said he hadn’t worked out the specifics of his bill but that it would be limited to coal investments. He said it would not extend to all fossil-fuel holdings such as those in oil and gas production.

“We’re working out all the (divestment) details,” he said. “We’re talking about a way that’s smart and intelligent, not a way that hurts investment strategies.”

Climate-change activists have been pushing large investors to shed their holdings in coal, a major contributor to greenhouse gases. CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund with $300 billion in investments, would be the environmental movement’s biggest prize should de León be able to push his legislation into law.

Stanford divestment

One notable institution that announced this year that it will divest coal holdings is Stanford University, where Steyer is on the board of trustees. On Monday, his NextGen Climate organization held a forum at the Kaiser Center in Oakland to “lay out the pathways to continue California’s success in addressing climate change in 2015 and beyond.”

For Steyer, it was something of a homecoming to territory that may prove friendlier than states where he supported pro-environment candidates in the November elections. The onetime venture capitalist from San Francisco spent an estimated $73 million backing candidates from Colorado to Florida, many of whom lost.

From the roster of notables who showed up Monday, it was clear that Steyer’s clout in California is undiminished. Besides de León, those in attendance included Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, University of California President Janet Napolitano, and Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources Board.

Governor stars

The biggest name at the California Climate Leadership forum was Brown, who said the state would face strong opposition from “very powerful people” as it continues its aggressive approach to climate change.

Those efforts include bringing gasoline sellers and distributors under the state’s landmark cap-and-trade climate law as of Jan. 1, requiring them to purchase credits to emit greenhouse gas pollutants. It’s been targeted as a “hidden gas tax” by the Western States Petroleum Association, which is lobbying to delay its implementation.

On the national front, Republicans who take control of the Senate next month have targeted several Obama administration initiatives aimed at reducing global warming. In particular, incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has vowed to strip funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

“We can do things in California,” Brown said, “but if others don’t follow, it will be futile.”

Fighting Darth Vaders

For his part, the 57-year-old Steyer depicted environmentalists as the good guys in a “Star Wars”-like battle for the planet’s health — with oil companies cast as a collection of Darth Vaders who are fully capable of raising gas prices “in order to punish us.”

“I like to think about it as 'Star Wars’ redux,” Steyer said of the climate change battle. “We’ve had this fight before. We will win it again. The Jedi will always return.”

Jessica Levinson, professor of political ethics at Loyola University in Los Angeles, said that as long as Steyer is willing to throw his millions at liberal causes, he will have no trouble attracting the attention of California’s leading Democratic officeholders.

“If you have a billion dollars, your dance card is going to be full,” she said. “You’re going to have a lot of friends, and access and power in politics. California is no exception, and Jerry Brown is no exception.

“If anything it’s openly transactional, and that’s not a bad thing,” Levinson said. “We all know why everyone shows up at Tom Steyer’s events — because he may spend a lot of money supporting candidates and issues. And if you spend it, they will come.”

Carla Marinucci is senior political writer at The San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cmarinucci