Politico New York Energy, July 20, 2018

DUNLEA’S GREEN PITCH — POLITICO's Marie J. French: If Comptroller Tom DiNapoli won't rid the state's pension fund of investments in fossil fuel companies, then it's time for a new comptroller, says Mark Dunlea. Dunlea, a longtime environmental activist, has launched a quixotic Green Party campaign to unseat DiNapoli. Dunlea faces ridiculously long odds — the Green Party operates on the state's political margins, while DiNapoli was the only unopposed incumbent at the state's Democratic convention and won reelection in 2014 with 60 percent of the vote. And it's not as though Dunlea sees DiNapol as an archenemy. "We think Tom's a good guy," he said. Even still, Dunlea is moving forward with his unlikely campaign, focusing on a key issue for environmentalists: divestment. There's a lot of money at stake — the comptroller has fiduciary responsibility for $209 billion in state pension funds, which pay for public employee retirement benefits. The comptroller's decisions about investment strategy are critical in ensuring that the state will have money to cover the pension costs for thousands of employees. Investing in fossil fuel companies "is morally wrong, it's destroying the planet and its a financial risk," Dunlea said at a press event in Albany last week. It was one of several appearances he's made around the state with Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins. Read more here.