POLITICS: Brad Lander’s last (we hope) lunacy: a ‘climate’ hissy fit

Heading out of office on a characteristically pathetic note, city Comptroller Brad Lander mounted his high horse to demand city pension funds burn money on a symbolic stand against clmate change.

Fund officials must cut ties with BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and PanAgora Asset Management, he preached — because those firms have stopped bowing to the anti-carbon hysteria.

“Climate risk is financial risk,” Lander emoted. “You can see it all around you in an increased number of flash floods and wildfires.”

Never mind that actual science doesn’t show such impacts from global warming, nor do major companies fail to account for all manner of genuine downside risks in their earnings forecasts: Loons like Lander want the financial world to pretend that every firm that isn’t (wrongly) assuming a climate catastrophe is coming isn’t worth investing in.

BlackRock rightly slammed Lander’s hissy fit as “another instance of the politicization of public pension funds, which undermines the retirement security of hardworking New Yorkers.” 

Lander’s insistence on performative virtue-signaling, instead of acting in the best interest of 800,000 current and former city workers (and the taxpayers who ultimately guarantee public pensions) is another reason to cheer his departure from the city payroll.

The simply truth is that “decarbonizing” pension funds won’t do a darned thing to save the planet, but only reduce the returns on the funds’ investments.

An honest comptroller wouldn’t strive to waste public monies on ideological hobby horses.

Cross your fingers that Lander’s Dec 31 exit from the comptroller’s office will mark the end of his disgraceful political career.

And pray that Democratic voters don’t entertain this preposterous fraud’s expected challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in next June’s primary: Make Brad finally have to earn a living in the private sector.