UPDATE 1-Calstrs presses shareholders over ONEOK emissions

(Adds company position from proxy statement)

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 (Reuters) - Calstrs, the third largest U.S. pension fund, will call on shareholders to press energy company ONEOK Inc (OKE.N) on setting goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the fund's chief investment officer said on Monday.

Calstrs, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, will urge approximately 105,000 other ONEOK shareholders to support its call for the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company, which processes and distributes natural gas, to report on the feasibility of targeting cuts in emissions contributing to climate change.

The shareholder resolution is the only one proposed by Calstrs this proxy season.

The $164 billion fund based in Sacramento, California, owns more than 1.94 million shares in ONEOK, or about 2 percent of the company's outstanding shares, and will urge shareholders to back its shareowner Proposal 8 at the company's annual meeting on May 15.

"It's time for ONEOK to change its corporate climate to meet the challenges posed by climate change risk -- challenges that can and will impact the performance of the company," Calstrs Chief Investment Officer Christopher Ailman said in a statement.

Calstrs spokeswoman Sherry Reser said the fund is advancing the resolution amid a broader push among institutional investors to draw attention to investment risks associated with climate change, which are of growing interest to the fund's board.

A ONEOK representative said the company's board opposes Calstrs' resolution, add that the company's position is explained in its proxy statement. In the statement, the company says it is already reducing methane emissions and is analyzing options for additional reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. (Reporting by Jim Christie; Editing by Marguerita Choy)