Opinion: MainePERS needs to divest from fossil fuels. Now.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 8, 2026

A 2021 legal mandate directed the state of Maine to divest its assets from the fossil fuel industry. The Maine Treasury, tasked with managing state investments, complied with the mandate. The Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS) did not. LD 99 was the first state law in the country that directed a state government to divest its financial assets from the fossil fuel industry. For years, the fossil fuel industry has underperformed, yet many public pension funds, such as MainePERS, remain invested in an option that jeopardizes the savings of former, current and future public employees. Hundreds of global institutions with a fiduciary duty to pensioners or beneficiaries have divested. ~ Jackson Chadwick, Maine Youth for Climate Justice