US public pension funds should stop wasting precious time on thinly veiled political activism like vilifying the oil giant Exxon, ditch the ESG conference circuit, a sanctimonious echo chamber that does little to address the looming climate emergency, and repurpose most of their sustainability staff, says John Skjervem, CIO of Utah Retirement Systems (URS) which oversees $55 billion of assets on behalf of the US state’s public sector employees. URS is building a portfolio of alternative energy investments with the dual focus of hedging its commitments in oil and gas while also positioning the fund to support and profit from a decarbonized future.