Last Friday, October 28, I attended a powerful fossil fuel divestment roundtable at Baruch College co-sponsored by New York State Senators Liz Krueger, Brad Hoylman, and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz.

Of the ten or so panelists, the majority regarded the truth that end of the fossil fuel era was already among us, and expressed their fervent favor of divestment from the fossil fuel companies that continue to perpetuate the climate crisis.

Speakers urged the other two panelists, Vicki Fuller and Pete Grannis of the New York State Comptroller’s office, that as decision-makers of the $175 billion that the State’s pensions represent, they have an opportunity and massive responsibility to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in a sustainable economy for New Yorkers.

While it was apparent that Vicki Fuller was listening intently to other panelists, including the poignant Elizabeth Yeampierre of UPROSE and Tom Sanzillo of the IEEFA, Pete Grannis of the NYS Comptrollers office ignorantly shook off the strategy of divestment. Instead, Grannis focused on the impact of individuals and consumer behavior on climate change, pointing to the antiquated “you just gotta change your lightbulbs” argument.

While I recognize the nature of his position, it truly boiled my blood. That argument represents the direct result of an intentional campaign of deception that fossil fuel executives at companies like Exxon orchestrated to sow doubt about climate change. Shaking off the accountability of coal, oil, and gas companies of their driving role in causing the climate crisis, and onto our communities that bear the brunt of the industry’s lies, is exactly what Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, and more, want us to believe. We’ve known for a long time that, while individuals should certainly consider their impact, it is fossil fuel companies that are accountable for the devastating climate impacts we are experiencing today.

Unfortunately, at last Friday’s roundtable, there was no time for a Q&A. So I wrote up this reflection of what I would’ve like to communicate to the panelists, particularly Pete Grannis and Vicki Fuller: