The bigger point to Vanguard's lackluster stance on environmental issues and how it affects all fund shareholders is already in the story:
"Institutional investors often scoff at such proposals as irrelevant to shareholders. But there’s ample evidence environmental behavior affects financial prospects. In June 2012, Deutsche Bank published a report analyzing the results of some 100 academic studies and
56 research papers on sustainable investing. In 89 percent of the studies, companies rated highly on environmental, social and governance factors beat the stock market.
Companies with bad environmental records can face regulatory fines, reputation damage and class-action lawsuits. Right now, DTE’s Shenango infractions are a minor cost of doing business. But as etiological science improves and attitudes toward coal change, one day a serious lawsuit may stick."
I suggest you read this study:
https://institutional.deutscheawm.com/content/_media/Sustainable_Investing_2012.pdfSimply stating you think I am self-interested is a distraction from the basic fact that being a bad steward of the environment is actually bad for business and bad for fund shareholders who invest in companies long-term. And Vanguard as an index fund shop is the ultimate long-term investor as it holds stocks in the market forever. A sensible investor would want greater transparency and greater accountability on the executive level regarding companies environmental policies, especially at a utility facing increasing regulation and public scrutiny on such issues.
And quite frankly coal is about the dirtiest resource on the planet. The idea that a long-term shareholder like DiNapoli might question the long-term viability of coal as a line of business at DTE and ask for some sort of timeline as to when DTE might phase out its use isn't just being some sort of granola environmentalist. It's being a smart investor concerned about the liability of such a resource.
