We are Mendocino County for Ethical Investing, a coalition of local Mendocino County residents who believe our collective tax dollars should no longer support entities which violate human rights, perpetuate war crimes, and bring us closer to climate apocalypse.
County leadership took a promising step in January 2024 when they added fossil fuels to the list of discouraged investments. The declaration reads:
“Investments are encouraged in entities that support equality of rights regardless of sex, race, age, disability, or sexual orientation, as well as those entities that practice environmentally sound and fair labor practices. Investments are discouraged in entities that receive a significant portion of their revenues from the manufacturer of fossil fuels, tobacco products, firearms, or weapons not used in our national defense.”
A critical amendment is needed to strengthen this language. The word “discouraged” has proven inadequate as a guideline for ethical investing. With the current language, the County is still invested in fossil fuels and weapons of war (read more about our holdings). Therefore, the word “discouraged” must be replaced with “prohibited” to assure that our county’s policy will actually be put into action.
We do not want our tax dollars going towards the production of weapons that are used in war crimes. We do not want our tax dollars funding the production of bombs that not only destroy families and communities but also release hazardous amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere. In this time of climate crisis, we do not want our tax dollars financing the fossil fuel industry, including pipelines, tar sands and the like.
We need to change our county’s investment policy so that it reflects and embodies our shared values of protecting the health of communities and our planet!