DiNapoli Praises Cabot On Fracking Disclosure
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has withdrawn a shareholder resolution calling for a report on the use toxic substances in Cabot’s shale energy operations after the company agreed to publicly disclose its procedures for eliminating or minimizing then.
“Cabot has taken a positive step to reduce risk to shareholders, the environment and the communities in which it operates,” DiNapoli said.
“This agreement means that Cabot will publicly release what it is doing to use less toxic substances in its hydraulic fracturing fluids and detail how it is ensuring these efforts are being carried out. Shareholder value is better protected when companies disclose the risks associated with the hydraulic fracturing process.”
As of last Friday, the pension fund held 184,350 shares of Cabot worth $6.9 million. UPDATE: The comptroller’s office has provided new numbers: The fund held 681,692 shares valued at $35.8 million as of Feb. 4.
DiNapoli has filed several resolutions over the past three years with oil and natural gas companies in which the $150.1 billion pension fund owns stock concerning disclosure of legal and regulatory risk, chemicals used in fracking and identification and reduction of potential hazards associated with the controversial natural gas drilling process.
So far, none of these resolutions have passed, but they are slowly gaining support.
In 2010, resolutions addressing legal, regulatory and environmental issues went to votes at Cabot and Chesapeake, winning more than 25 percent of the shares voted, according to DiNapoli’s office.
A shareholder vote at Carrizo Oil and Gas in 2011 on environmental impacts and material risks to the company’s finances or operations related to hydraulic fracturing was supported by over 43 percent of shareholders voting.
This comes on the heels of NYC Comptroller John Liu’s announcement earlier today that he and the NYC Pension Funds have filed a shareowner proposal calling on Exxon Mobil Corp. to release quantitative data on its efforts to safeguard the public and the environment from its fracking operations.
Liu filed his resolution in conjunction with the nonprofit environmental advocacy group As You Sow, which is part of a broader investor initiative organized by Ceres challenging companies to address climate and sustainability risks.
Thus far in the 2013 proxy season, investors working with Ceres have filed 85 resolutions with 73 companies.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Liz Benjamin on February 5, 2013 at 12:42 pm, and is filed under Fracking, Tom DiNapoli. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |
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