{"id":13159,"date":"2016-05-20T17:22:30","date_gmt":"2016-05-21T00:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=13159"},"modified":"2016-05-20T17:22:30","modified_gmt":"2016-05-21T00:22:30","slug":"gc2016-rejects-divestment-on-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/gc2016-rejects-divestment-on-fossil-fuels\/","title":{"rendered":"GC2016 rejects divestment on fossil fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Hodges<\/strong>
\nMay 20, 2016 | PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS)<\/h4>\n

After prolonged, impassioned debate, General Conference 2016 chose not to add a fossil fuels investment screen for the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits.<\/p>\n

The question came down to divestment vs. engagement<\/a> as the better way to use church investments in influencing energy companies to address climate change.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, delegates voted 630-101 against amending church law to call for screening out investments in fossil fuels companies.<\/p>\n

Delegates heard from Barbara Boigegrain, top executive of the Board of Pension and Health Benefits, who described the climate change issue as \u201curgent\u201d but argued against a fossil fuels screen.<\/p>\n

She said the denomination would have more influence by working on the inside to change corporations\u2019 behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we divest with companies, The United Methodist Church loses a voice at the table,\u201d Boigegrain said.<\/p>\n

She added that if General Conference approved a fossil fuels screen, to go with screens in place for private prisons, alcohol, munitions, tobacco and pornography, \u201cnine to 15 percent of the investable universe\u201d would be off limits to the pension fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would greatly reduce our flexibility\u201d in trying to support energy companies making positive change, Boigegrain said.<\/p>\n

But the Rev. Jenny Phillips, coordinator of Fossil Free UMC, told delegates that the denomination had a chance, by adding the fossil fuels screen, to be a witness to countries that signed the Paris Agreement<\/a> on climate change.<\/p>\n

Phillips argued that such countries will need encouragement to follow through with changes to clean energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir leaders need clear signals from their constituents that people support a rapid transition \u2026 A major global denomination\u2019s commitment to divestment would provide such a signal,\u201d Phillips said.<\/p>\n

Exasperating disasters<\/h4>\n

The Rev. Denise Honeycutt, a Virginia Conference delegate who has served as the top executive of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, noted that United Methodists have a strong record of responding to natural disasters.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crucial, she argued, that the denomination recognize climate change is causing or worsening such events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhole communities are being displaced because of the rising sea levels,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have an opportunity to be proactive by enduring that our investment does not add to the crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Rev. Amy Lippoldt, a Great Plains Conference delegate, said she generally favors engagement over divestment, and feels it\u2019s too early for United Methodists to go to a fossil fuels screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cResponsible engagement is what the board \u2026 is asking us to let them do \u2013 to let them stay at the conversation table until there is no other option,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Financial Administration Committee had voted 41-14 for Sustainable and Responsible Investments language in the Book of Discipline that does not include the fossil fuels screen.<\/p>\n

Jessica Vargo, East Ohio Conference delegate and chair of the committee, urged delegates to stick with the committee\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n

The delegates did, after turning back a minority report that included the screen, and also defeating an amendment that would have prohibited investment in companies active in illegally occupied territories.<\/p>\n

This General Conference saw a climate vigil<\/a>, organized by the Pacific Northwest Conference, as well as a handful of daily demonstrators outside the Oregon Convention Center, raising awareness of the climate change issue.<\/p>\n

United Methodists were among the faith delegations attending the Paris climate summit last fall. The Board of Pension and Health Benefits joined with United Methodist Women and the denomination\u2019s Church and Society and Global Ministries boards in a Nov. 16, 2015, letter to summit participants urging limits on global warming.<\/p>\n

Hodges, a United Methodist News Service writer, lives in Dallas. Contact him at (615) 742-5470 or\u00a0newsdesk@umcom.org<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Hodges May 20, 2016 | PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS) After prolonged, impassioned debate, General Conference 2016 chose not to add a fossil fuels investment screen for the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits. The question came down to divestment vs. engagement as the better way to use church investments in influencing energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":13161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[449,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-conference","8":"category-umns"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/jenny-phillips.jpg?fit=1300%2C678&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-3qf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13159"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13162,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13159\/revisions\/13162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}