As New York City sues oil companies and plans to dump investments in fossil fuel production, Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers is pushing to go even further and use the $7 billion portfolio of the nation’s third-largest city to help fight climate change and promote social progress.

Summers is proposing to overhaul the city’s investment strategy to ensure taxpayer dollars are directed to financially sound companies that make it a priority to protect the environment, encourage gender and racial diversity, uphold labor standards and operate ethically.

Instead of just divesting from fossil fuel interests, Summers said, the city should phase out those investments and ensure the portfolio is carbon-neutral by 2020, meaning any money still tied up in oil and gas funds would be offset by investments in clean energy.

Chicago Treasurer to use city portfolio to promote sustainability