Pension Power

Damon Silvers, Associate General Counsel of the AFL-CIO [1] stunned the room this afternoon, announcing that while there's $160 trillion of fossil fuels currently underground, the economic costs of unchecked climate change will total between $700 and $1,400 trillion -- possibly causing a global depression.

Silvers said that's why the AFL-CIO backs investing union pension assets into clean energy funds -- because you're not responsibly investing for the future, if you're not investing in a sustainable future.

Further, Tom Croft of the Heartland Network [2] stressed that it's important for unions to control their assets and invest in sustainable projects that will create good jobs.

Investment experts at the "Moving Labor & Public Pension Funds into Clean Energy Investments" panel assured attendees that the rapid growth of the clean energy market means it's easier to create financially sound, diversified portfolios.

In turn, there is no trade-off between investing green and making green. With the help of folks who know the energy industry , it's not hard to do both.

And since there are hundreds of billions of dollars in union pension funds, a clean energy investment strategy may have significant impact.