Washington, DC – Today U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse released the following applauding the unanimous decision by Mayor Elorza and the City of Providence’s Board of Investment Commissioners to divest the city’s finances from major fossil fuel companies. The Board’s decision follows a 2013 vote by the Providence City Council to divest the city of holdings in a broad array of fossil fuel companies.
“The City of Providence has sent a clear signal about these companies and the fossil fuel industry as a whole: they are wrong to pollute our atmosphere with their carbon and our politics with their dark money, and we will not be a part of it. Good for Providence to join Pope Francis in raising the issue of climate change and standing up for public health,” said Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and co-founder of the Senate Climate Action Task Force. “I congratulate Mayor Elorza, Councilman Yurdin, and the people of Providence.”
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