Opinion: Get the ingredients right in state pension fund by Scott Budde in the Portland Press Herald

“In a world with thousands of potential stock and investment fund options, MainePERS has many viable investment strategies that meet L.D. 99’s requirements and that are completely in-line with their fiduciary duty to beneficiaries.”

Opinion: MainePERS has the means to divest, but not the will by Don Witherill in the Portland Press Herald

“…fiduciary responsibility is viewed by MainePERS as a green light to proceed as usual even though they have been given data showing alternative, fossil fuel-free investments are outperforming the fossil fuel returns in their public equity investments.  The problem it seems is that MainePERS relies on investment managers outside of Maine who make the investment decisions and that Maine’s fund is too small to dictate what these managers invest in, putting MainePERS in the position of being a follower.”

Activists say Maine public workers’ retirement system is failing to divest from fossil fuels by Kay Neufeld in the Portland Press Herald

“I don’t really see how it could be within one’s fiduciary duty to not consider and act on the risk that fossil fuel investments have in the future,” said Cassie Cain, a climate finance campaigner supporting Divest Maine. “It’s really important for pensioners and public employees for pension funds to be divesting and considering climate risk in their work.”

Climate activists call for faster divestment from fossil fuels by Maine’s retirement system by Robbie Feinburg on Maine Public

"All kinds of enormous economic impacts, that will bubble around and cause enormous trouble impacting everything. And they're just not paying attention to any of that. It's not relevant to them," said Charles Spanger, with Third Act Maine, and pointed to a recent analysis showing that a fossil fuel-free portfolio would have outperformed MainePERS over the past decade.

Climate activists call for MainePERS to divest from fossil fuels on Fox 22 Bangor

…He said their reason for holding Thursday's protest is to tell the Public Employee Retirement System board the time for divestment is now, "because there's a billion dollars in fossil fuel investments that should be removed […] because the fossil fuel industry needs to be stopped from destroying the world"

State pension fund criticized for failing to prioritize fossil fuel divestment despite 2021 law by Evan Popp in the Maine Morning Star

Proponents of the 2021 measure, however, argue that not fully divesting by 2026 would violate the intent of that law. “They have not heeded the spirit [of the law] and they seem actually quite defiant, which is upsetting to me,” Molly Schen, a rally participant and member of Third Act Maine — a group of older climate activists — said of MainePERS. Others argued that divestment fits within MainePERS’ fiduciary duty because the renewable energy transition means fossil fuel investments are becoming increasingly likely to lose value.

Letter: MPERS must divest from fossil fuels by Charles Spanger (Third Act Maine) in the Portland Press Herald

“Retirement accounts are long-term investments, and unabated climate change will crush their value. Investment boards are composed of economists whose projections about climate risk are absurdly optimistic. MPERS is out of touch.”

Despite 2021 law, advocates say Maine’s pension fund isn’t fully divesting from fossil fuels by Evan Popp in the Maine Beacon

“However, proponents of the bill say divesting from fossil fuels is not only the right thing to do morally — given the well-documented connection between dirty energy sources and the escalating climate crisis — but would also be a prudent move financially because of the likely volatility of the industry as the world increasingly moves toward renewables.”