Maine makes state fossil-fuel divestments a point of law

Other US states expected to follow Maine’s lead, especially heavily Democratic ones on east and west coast

Maine has become the first US state to pass legislation requiring state officials to sell investments in fossil fuel-producing companies. On 17 June, Maine governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, signed into law a divestment plan that requires the $17bn Maine Public Employee Retirement System to divest $1.3bn it holds in fossil fuel producing companies by 2026, and the state’s Treasury to do the same with its invested funds. “Divestment will decrease the value of a company’s shares and may make it more expensive to access new capital, but it does not force companies to transition their businesses away from fossil fuels” Jeppesen, Carbon Tracker Richard Brooks, climate finance director for