(CPPIB = Canada Pension Plan Investment Board)
Allan forwarded the letter below from Friends of the Earth, Canada (FOE).
I did the action item, a link that takes you to an email you can submit to the CEO of the CPPIB. (easy)
In the past we’ve contacted the CPPIB about where they are investing our money, but not recently. I am hopeful that this mobilization (below), much larger than our network, will bear better results.
There is very good information in the letter from FOE below.
Kinder Morgan does not have the $7 billion dollars it needs to build the Trans-Mountain Pipeline.
The financial analysis offered says it’s a money-loser.
Warren Buffet just sold off his 26 million shares in Kinder Morgan.
It seems it’s up to Canadian workers, through their pension plans, to finance Kinder Morgan.
My own letter to the CPPIB:
SUBJECT: Investment versus Enablement
Dear Mr. Machin, (President & CEO of CPPIB)
I believe that the centralization of huge amounts of money given to the CPPIB, coupled with the anonymity of large numbers of small investors, is a recipe for corruption. No offence to you, and be that as it may,
“Investment” by Canadian workers in Kinder Morgan would not be investment, except in Orwellian NewSpeak. It would be “Enablement”.
The CPPIB would be enabling the diversion of Canadian workers’ pension money to a corporation whose “plan” will not fly unless it gets access to large amounts of free public money.
The CEO’s and the shareholders of Kinder Morgan will continue to be handsomely rewarded for their bad plans. The CPP will experience a financial LOSS on the “Enablement”. No one on the CPPIB will be held to any form of account, for diversion of money that you know is not going to generate a return on investment.
And ha! ha! those little old workers will foot the bill once again, docile bleating sheep that we are. . . . Cynical? . . . no, just realistic.
Sincerely,
Sandra Finley
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FROM THE FOE:
Dear Allan S,
Do you want the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to bail out a pipeline company with your hard earned money – you know – that deduction taken every pay period is your investment in the CPP.
We can stop this investment if we act right now. We were planning to update you about the wins in our CPP campaign – instead, just yesterday we learned Kinder Morgan has approached the CPPIB, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board for money to bail out its Trans-Mountain pipeline.
So now we urgently need your voice to help stop this purchase.
First, here is why we know your voice can make a difference. The CPPIB says it is setting up a committee to study “climate risk” – a major strategic victory that we called for last fall with your help. And, you will remember last November when Duke Energy, a major polluting coal company was fined $102 million for its negligence and required to undertake a $3 billion cleanup.
The fine, cleanup costs and lawsuits made it a financial risk and the Norwegian pension fund agrees. We were outraged with no change in the CPPIB holdings in Duke Energy and called on them to divest. Now we can report that the CPPIB divested a large portion of its Duke Energy stock in reaction to your emails. These two actions are a big improvement on the patronizing response from the CPPIB we shared with you in December.
Today, we are asking you to urgently use your voice to write CPPIB President Mark Machin. Tell him NOT to use your money to bail out this pipeline. CPPIB has already invested in this pipeline. They made a major purchase of Kinder Morgan stock last fall – just two weeks before Prime Minister Trudeau approved the pipeline.
Last year our pension plan also bailed out Encana, Western Petroleum and Devon Energy – a pipeline in Alberta.
Kinder Morgan Trans is now looking for billions to cover the estimated $7 billion cost of building the pipeline. Financial analyst, David Alton Clark writing on the Seeking Alpha investment site said, “I seriously question the current projected cash flows from the project and the completion date. I expect a substantial revision downward of the project’s distributable cash flow once it’s all said and done, particularly if a joint venture partner is brought in.”
Warren Buffett, said to be the world’s smartest investor, isn’t waiting around hoping Kinder Morgan’s pipeline will be profitable. He just sold his 26 million shares in the company. Kinder Morgan is a bad investment for the climate and a very risky financial investment. Write Mr. Machin now!