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Supervisor Feuer urges treasurer to add Dakota Access Pipeline financing to city’s socially responsible investment screening
Summary
Supervisor Feuer introduced a resolution asking the City Treasurer to add the Dakota Access Pipeline and related financing to the city’s socially responsible investment screening factors and to act with urgency, rather than wait for the October annual update.
Supervisor Feuer introduced a resolution on March 7 urging the City Treasurer to add financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to the City and County of San Francisco’s socially responsible investment screening factors.
The resolution noted media and advocacy attention to the Dakota Access Pipeline, a roughly $3.8 billion project led by Energy Transfer Partners set to carry as many as 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois. Feuer said a portion of the city’s investments — she cited about $1.2 billion in issuers that provide financing used in the pipeline — creates a reputational and ethical concern for the city.
Nut graf: why it matters
Proponents told the Board that financing tied to projects such as the Dakota Access Pipeline can expose city investments to environmental and human‑rights controversies. The resolution asks the City Treasurer, Jose Cisneros, to update the treasurer’s socially responsible investment (SRI) matrix with urgency rather than waiting until the scheduled annual review in October.
Details cited by the sponsor
Supervisor Feuer read figures in her remarks characterizing the pipeline and risks: a $3.8 billion construction cost, capacity of about 570,000 barrels per day, documented pipeline leaks and ruptures nationwide, and concerns that a rupture could affect the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s primary water source and communities downstream. She urged colleagues to support an expedited addition of pipeline financing to the treasurer’s screening list so San Francisco could consider further steps taken by other cities pursuing divestment or screening.
Outcome and next steps
Feuer said this resolution would urge the treasurer’s office to act expeditiously. At the March 7 meeting she introduced the resolution for board consideration; no formal vote to adopt the resolution was recorded in the March 7 transcript. Feuer said she planned to seek colleagues’ support for advancing the request and referenced other California cities that had taken similar steps.
Clarifying details
- Sponsor cited the Standing Rock Sioux as a tribe of roughly 10,000 people and said pipeline routing under the Missouri River threatened downstream water for "17,000,000 Americans," figures presented as sponsor summary and advocacy context. - The sponsor referenced other cities that had begun divestment or screening efforts, including Seattle, Alameda, Santa Monica and Davis.
