STATE COMPTROLLER THOMAS P. DINAPOLI RECEIVES STATE BAR'S ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD

ALBANY, NY (01/29/2016)(readMedia)-- New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has been honored by the New York State Bar Association with its 2016 Environmental Law Section award.

DiNapoli received the award during the Bar Association's Annual Meeting in New York City on January 29.

"New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's creative and forward-looking assessment of environmental law and policy raises the bar for the state, national and global management of environmental issues in the 21st century," said Michael J. Lesser of Albany, chair of the Environmental Law Section.

As sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, DiNapoli invests pension fund dollars in companies whose products solve environmental problems while earning returns for the pension fund.

DiNapoli launched the Green Strategic Investment Program in 2008 with the goal of increasing commitments to environmentally focused investment strategies and reducing greenhouse gases.

He recently doubled investments in clean energy and created a $2 billion fund that will put additional funding into green energy and less into companies responsible for large emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

DiNapoli also uses the retirement fund to invest in companies making products or services that reduce climate change, including solar- or wind-power producers and manufacturers of emission-reducing systems.

The New York State Bar Association, with 74,000 members, is the largest voluntary state bar association in the country. It was founded in 1876.

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