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Some of the largest pension funds in the US and the world are worried that major fossil fuel companies may not be as profitable in the future because of efforts to limit climate change, and they want details on how the firms will manage a long-term shift to cleaner energy sources. In a statement released on October 24 2013, leaders of 70 funds said they are asking 45 of the world's top oil, gas, coal and electric power companies to do detailed assessments of how efforts to control climate change could impact their businesses. The pension funds say that because it takes decades to recoup the huge investments required for fossil fuel exploration, there's a significant chance that future regulations will limit production or impose expensive pollution-control requirements that would reduce the fuels' profitability.