History of the Divest Oregon Coalition

May 2021: A Climate Activist Q&A with Treasurer Tobias Read was sponsored by 350PDX and many other sponsoring organizations around the state.

June 2021: Treasurer Read was interviewed by Dave Miller on OPB’s Think Out Loud in an interview called “Will Oregon Divest from Fossil Fuels.”

July 2021: Initial coalition workgroups were formed.

August 2021: A Public Records Request was made to the Treasury for all holdings. On Dec 9, 2021, the holdings were finally released.

September 2021: The formal campaign launch of Divest Oregon occurred with 30 coalition organizations which quickly expanded to 80 organizations around the state by December 2021.

November 2021:  A Washington Post article titled, “Liberal Oregon resists dropping controversial investments” (carried in most Oregon media outlets), exposed the lack of transparency of the Treasury and their inability to get rid of troublesome private equity  assets. 

December 2021: Op-Ed was published about the Treasury Transparency Bill by Co-Chief Sponsors Pham, Holvey & Golden, stating that Oregon must disclose and divest from fossil fuels.

Jan-March 2022: HB 4115 Treasury Transparency Bill is introduced in the Oregon Legislature, passes the House floor vote, and runs out of time, opposed by the Oregon Treasury.

April 2022: "Risky Business: Oregon Treasury's Fossil Fuel Problem" report published. Many media outlets released reports about the significant fossil fuel holdings by the Oregon State Treasury.

July 2022 and January 2023: Oregon Treasury released Climate Risk reports highlighting the financial risk fossil fuels pose to the portfolio.

January 2023:  HB 2601 Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act is introduced in the Oregon Legislature.

April 2023: Divest Oregon publish report entitled, "Oregon Treasury’s ESG Investment Failure" highlighting the PERS Fossil Fuel Investments that Fund Human Rights Violations, Community Destruction, and Climate Chaos.

Summer/Fall 2023: Treasurer Roundtables regarding Net Zero Plan

Feb 2024: Treasurer Read released Oregon Net-Zero Plan. One of the first in the US.

March 2024: The COAL Act (HB 4083) passed legislature, supported by the Treasurer, and signed by Governor Kotek. The 3rd state legislature to pass a divestment law.

April 2024: Oregon Treasurer Candidate Forum had largest gathering of Oregonians to listen to candidates discuss the Oregon Net-Zero plan and other topics.