The billionaire activist and leading California gubernatorial contender asked the public to understand that his hedge fund’s extensive investments in fossil fuels were a necessary preliminary step in his lifelong journey to eventually tell people to stop burning them.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Following lingering questions about the origins of his personal wealth, climate activist Tom Steyer confirmed Thursday that his former hedge fund’s aggressive investments in international coal infrastructure were executed solely to bankroll his eventual political platform against international coal infrastructure.
Steyer, who managed Farallon Capital during a period when it poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Maules Creek mine in Australia and various Indonesian coal operations, told reporters that securing a $1.6 billion net worth was a crucial first phase in his net-zero transition strategy. The resulting dividends, he explained, are currently being converted directly into high-frequency television advertisements warning Californians about the catastrophic warming caused by the exact facilities he financed.
Mr. Steyer has formally asked his wealth managers to separate his money from the fossil fuel investments that generated it, a process we call 'atmospheric laundering.' Once the capital is legally isolated from the carbon it originally emitted, it is perfectly clean and safe to use for climate advocacy.
The candidate emphasized that he has recently "asked" his financial advisors to untangle his assets from the fossil fuel sector, though it remains unclear how the SEC classifies the retroactive un-burning of thermal coal. Campaign filings show the Steyer team is currently exploring whether the millions of metric tons of CO2 generated by his portfolio can be written off as an early in-kind donation to the global carbon budget.
As the California fire season approaches and the state struggles to meet its 2030 statutory emissions targets under the latest IPCC AR6 pathways, Steyer expressed confidence that his unique experience profiting from the primary driver of the crisis makes him the ideal executive to manage its fallout. His team confirmed his upcoming statewide climate policy rollout will be fully funded by the lingering compounded interest of a 2009 metallurgical coal boom.