Coal (but not oil)

We have posted recently about the "green" investment initiative by UC which stemmed from demands that the university divest from fossil fuel.  The Regents rejected the divestment option - including the just-coal option - and adopted the green investment strategy.  That step may not have killed the issue, however:

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the biggest pension in the U.S., would be required to divest its holdings in companies that produce coal under a bill to be introduced by the leader of the state Senate. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said he will introduce legislation in January to order Calpers and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the second-largest U.S. pension, to begin to divest completely from coal... "California is leading globally on climate change and clean energy -- and our shared financial resources should reflect that,” de Leon said in remarks prepared for delivery today at a climate conference in Oakland. “California has prohibited its energy companies from buying or importing coal power, and the state’s funds should match that.”...

Full story at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-15/california-senator-seeks-to-require-calpers-to-divest-from-coal.html 

Some observers might note that California is a major oil producing state but has no coal industry.  That fact couldn't possibly have influenced this proposal, could it?

In any event, if CalPERS is required to divest from coal, look for the issue to come back to the Regents, particularly now that the Regents and UC are in conflict with the governor and legislature over the Regents' tuition/state funding proposal of last month.