Stop the Money Pipeline

Between 2021 and 2024, I had the honor of being the co-director of Stop the Money Pipeline alongside Jackie Fielder. In July 2024, with the full-throated support of all of us here, Jackie left Stop the Money Pipeline to run for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Four months later, Jackie not only won her election, she crushed it ― winning a whopping 59.7% of the vote in San Francisco’s District 9.

Now, I’m so excited to share that Supervisor Fielder is planning to introduce a ballot measure that would tax some of San Francisco’s largest financial institutions to create a municipal public bank in the city.

A San Francisco public bank would be great for San Francisco. By providing low or no cost loans for affordable housing, public transportation, and small businesses, a public bank would help the city hit its climate goals and become a more sustainable, affordable, and thriving city.

As Jackie put it in this video announcing the next stage of the SF public bank campaign:

“Right now, Wall Street is in charge of our billions and billions of dollars. But if the public bank were our own bank, we can be in charge of our own money and where it’s being invested. Then, our money wouldn’t be going to industries like fossil fuels, weapons of war, and ICE detention centers. Instead, it’d be going into our own economy and things we actually need like affordable housing and small businesses.”

Creating a public bank, however, is no small feat. First, the State of California had to pass legislation legalizing the creation of municipal public banks. After years of advocacy, that happened in 2019, when the state passed the California Public Banking Act of 2019.

Even with this law on the books, however, the process remains complex. As this article in Mission Local, Jackie’s local paper, explains, setting up a San Francisco public bank will require $400 million in seed funding – that’s where the ballot initiative and the tax on large financial institutions come in.

If the November ballot measure passes, the money raised from the tax, which will be leveraged on credit card companies and other large financial institutions, will be used to set up what’s known as a “municipal financial corporation,” a kind of midway point to a full public bank that can issue loans but cannot take deposits.

All being well, this “municipal financial corporation” will start getting loans out the door in 2029. Only after it’s operated successfully for a few years, will the “municipal financial corporation” be able to apply to regulators to become a fully-fledged public bank in 2032.

Before any of that though, in order to pass in November, the public bank ballot initiative must win two-thirds of the vote.

In short, winning a public bank is no quick solution, or easy organizing effort. But ever since I first worked with Jackie, back in 2016, when we were fighting the financiers of the Dakota Access pipeline, that’s what I’ve admired about her: her ambition, and commitment to bringing about long-term change on a systems level.

And if San Francisco is successful in winning a public bank, it could be nationally important, too.

Globally, there are 586 public banks, managing some $35 trillion in assets. In many parts of the world, public banks play a key role in driving the energy transition, by providing low or no cost loans for projects that benefit people and the planet, such as affordable housing and large-scale renewable energy and public transportation projects.

However, there’s only one public bank in the United States, the Bank of North Dakota which was founded in 1919. There hasn’t been a single new public bank created in the United States in the one hundred and eight years since then.

But a public bank in San Francisco would change that. And who’s to say that what starts in San Francisco will stay there? The Bay Area is known, after all, for exporting its innovation around the world.

Often what’s exported around the world from the Bay Area is of dubious value to society―whether it’s social media disinformation or AI slop―but if the Bay Area’s next big export to the rest of the country is a model for how to set up and run a successful public bank, that will be an unalloyed good.

So, if you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area you’ll be hearing more about this from us in the coming months. But if you want to make sure you don’t miss a thing, and if you’re in the Bay Area: sign up here for updates & opportunities to plug into the campaign.

In Solidarity,
– Alec Connon, Stop the Money Pipeline coalition director

– No War, No Kings

As the Trump Administration launches a reckless, illegal, and deeply immoral war on Iran, it’s more important than ever that we demonstrate – to the country and the rest of the world – just how deeply unpopular Trump and the MAGA agenda truly is.

Our next big opportunity to do that is on March 28th for No Kings Day #3. The first two No Kings Days were two of the largest single-day mobilizations in American history.

Let’s make the next one even larger. Join a No Kings Day event near you on March 28th.

– Costco Has No Excuse Now

In February, we released the Better Options report, a first-of-its-kind report assessing the climate performance of the 20 largest credit card issuers in the United States.

The key findings? Eight of the financial institutions analyzed did not provide large-scale financing to the fossil fuel industry in the time period analyzed. This means that companies like Costco have no excuse now: they need to find a better partner for their co-branded credit card than Citigroup, the world’s second-largest funder of fossil fuel expansion.

Join the campaign here. And read about the campaign in the news: “New climate-finance campaign targets Costco’s partnership with Citibank.”

– Shifting Politics Means Shifting Strategy

In 2024, our bank campaigns saw real progress. That year, Citigroup – our primary target – committed to end financing for new oil and gas projects in the Amazon and implemented a goal of reducing their oil and gas financing by 29% by 2030.

But when Trump was elected, major banks started backtracking on their climate commitments. That meant we had to change our strategy.

In a recent headline article in Bloomberg, I talked about what some of those strategy changes have and should look like. Read the full article here, “Wall Street’s Oil Deals Have Climate Activists Resorting to New Tactics.”

– Insure our Communities campaign gallops along

The Insure Our Communities Act is gaining momentum in New York.

After the bill’s prime sponsor left the legislature, we’re stoked that Senator Nathalia Fernandez has agreed to become the bill’s new prime sponsor in the Senate! As a member of the Senate Insurance Committee, Senator Fernandez is well-placed to help the bill advance.

If this bill passes, it would prohibit New York-licensed insurers from providing insurance to new coal, oil, and gas projects anywhere – an impact that would be felt globally.

So, if you’re in New York, check out the campaign website and get involved:

 www.InsureOurCommunitiesNY.com 

– Confronting Big Oil in Houston, TX.

Every year, fossil fuel corporations, Wall Street financiers, and government officials convene in Houston for CERA Week, where they plot out how they can keep profiting from fossil fuels, even as frontline communities face toxic air and the brunt of climate chaos.

This year, dozens of organizations are coming together for “Confronting CERA Week”. Over three days, there will be workshops and skillshares, art builds, community events, and actions.

Plug into the Confronting CERA Week organizing in Houston this March 21 – 23.

– Gulf South Communities file Human Right Grievance Against Major Insurer

Last week, frontline communities in Louisiana and Japan joined our partners at Rainforest Action Network and filed an official human rights grievance with the insurance company, Tokio Marine, regarding its coverage for Venture Global’s risky LNG operations. This is a major move to expose the human rights abuses that follow in the wake of the LNG buildout in the Gulf South, and elsewhere.

Read more about the Human Rights Grievance filed with Tokio Marine.

– First-of-its-kind Climate Risk Lawsuit Filed

This week, a landmark new class action lawsuit was filed against one of the world’s largest real estate corporations, Cushman & Wakefield, alleging that its retirement plan managers failed to properly manage climate risks to workers’ hard-earned savings. The legal challenge, filed by ClientEarth and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, is the first of its kind and, if successful, could set an important precedent for addressing climate risks to millions of American workers’ deferred wages.

Read about it in the Financial Times (if you hit a paywall, view the article here), or amplify the news using this toolkit from our partner at Stand.earth. Wanna learn more? Register for the legal briefing on March 25th.

– Federal Court Strikes Down Texas’ Anti-Climate Attacks on Banks

Good news out of Texas, where a judge has struck down Texas’s 2021 “anti-ESG” law that directed the state government to boycott financial institutions that took common sense steps to address the climate crisis.

The Texas law was the high-point of the so-called “anti-ESG movement” that punished banks and investors for taking action on fossil fuels. The court’s findings are a win for the climate, and for commonsense.

– Several Ways To Make Fossil Fuel Companies Pay

To kick off the state legislative session, our friends at the Make Polluters Pay coalition held a week of action. In all, there were 37 events across 14 states, advocating for bills to make the fossil fuel industry pay for the mess they have created, based on Vermont and New York’s climate superfund bills, which were passed in 2024.

Across the country, a second creative way to put the fossil fuel industry on the hook for paying for climate programs is also gaining steam. In California, New York, and Hawaii there are bills in play that would authorize state attorneys generals to sue fossil fuel companies on behalf of residents whose insurance premiums have soared amid climate disasters. The Guardian had an excellent piece about this strategy here.

– Pushing Democrats to Hold Firm on ICE Accountability

We’re now nearly three weeks into the government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. A shutdown like this is not something to take lightly. It means thousands of workers furloughed, including workers from critical agencies like FEMA.

But this is also the Democrats only leverage to win real changes from ICE, an increasingly paramilitary force accountable only to Donald Trump. Democrats must use this leverage.

Already, 6,000 of you on this list have sent emails to your Senators, and hundreds of you have made calls. If you haven’t done so yet, contact your Senator here and urge them: Hold the line and hold ICE accountable.

– Epstein and the World’s Largest Funder of Fossil Fuels

One thing I am pretty sure we haven’t talked about enough is the deep ties between sex trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and JPMorgan Chase, the world’s largest funder of fossil fuels.

In 2023, JPMorgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, testified under oath that he’d never heard of Jeffrey Epstein until 2019. But one of his top lieutenants later claimed that he’d talked to Dimon years earlier about Epstein. And we now know that a top executive at the bank, Mary Erdoes, who is often touted as potential next CEO, was deeply involved in Epstein’s account, and long knew about his conviction for soliciting sex from fourteen-year-old girls.

In the UK, members of the Royal Family and senior politicians have been arrested in the wake of the release of the Epstein Files. In the US? Not so much. Read more about how the world’s largest funder of fossil fuels also enabled Epstein’s crimes in the Guardian, the New York Times, and Anand Giridharadas’s The Ink.

– and to close, a WIN in Davis, CA

After a months-long campaign waged by the intrepid Cath Posehn, the City of Davis, CA, voted to sever the city’s engagement with the Musk Empire — committing to do no business with Tesla, SpaceX, X, Neuralink, xAI, The Boring Company, and Tesla Robotaxis. No new contracts. No new purchases. No Musk platforms in official city communications.

We’ve been honored to support Cath in her work to achieve this win, and you can read all about how she did it here: One protestor got her city to divest from Elon Musk – here’s what she can teach the rest of us.

And to finish us off, here’s a photo of Cath, turning away from the lectern at Davis City Council, moments before the council voted to pass the resolution she wrote and spent months fighting for. This is what democracy looks like.

The post March Newsletter: Public banks? Oh yes. appeared first on Stop the Money Pipeline.

February 27, 2026

Contact: Eve Gutman, Communications and Research Manager, Earth Quaker Action Team, eve@eqat.org, 973-747-5644

In response to Thursday’s settlement in the case between Vanguard and a group of Republican state attorneys general, Earth Quaker Action Team has released the following statement: 

“No matter where we’re from, what we look like, or how we pray, we all want to build a life in a safe climate and trust that we will be able to support our loved ones. But, a small group of state attorneys general are playing with our futures by attacking investors doing any crumb of sustainable investing, just to score political points in their next elections. And the recent settlement in their lawsuit against Vanguard is just one in a series of examples of how Vanguard is succumbing to their political ploys.  

However, no matter what some politicians say, they cannot change the reality that climate change is a profound and systemic economic risk. And by funneling billions of dollars into fossil fuel expansion projects, Vanguard is directly threatening its customers’ savings – not to mention all of our wellbeing. As concerned citizens inspired by our Quaker values, we cannot accept this blatant throwing away of our futures. 

Vanguard’s claims that what matters most is “giving our investors the best chance for investment success” will ring hollow until it actually invests for a stable and prosperous future. As a start, Vanguard should offer a fossil fuel-free target date fund, give its sustainable investment products more competitive and accessible expense ratios, and meet with representatives of the Vanguard S.O.S. campaign. CEO Salim Ramji, CIO Greg Davis, and other corporate leaders have the responsibility to rise to the moment and steer the asset manager towards investing for a safe and healthy future.

For all Vanguard customers, Thursday’s settlement underscores Vanguard’s huge chasm between what it says about investing for their best interests and what it actually does. More and more customers are seeing that Vanguard is on a reckless course and moving their money out of the asset manager. Former customers concerned about Vanguard’s inaction on climate change have moved more than $57 million out of the asset manager and that number will keep growing. Customers can join money moving efforts at eqat.org/never-vanguard.

We will continue to push back with spirit-led direct action and highlight how Vanguard needs to change, alongside partners including American Friends Service Committee and Stop the Money Pipeline, among others.”

Nancy Treviño, Investors Campaign Manager at Stop the Money Pipeline, adds “In a moment when we need the largest investors and funders of fossil fuels to take climate action, this news shows us once again how Vanguard will cave to political pressure. Vanguard could choose to be a leader in providing their customers with more sustainable investment options, but instead chooses to settle politically motivated lawsuits that seek to protect fossil fuel interests over our planet’s wellbeing.” 

For more of the economic argument for why investors must treat fossil-fueled climate change as an economy-wide threat, see The Long Term Will Be Decided Now, published by the Sierra Club. 

EQAT was founded in 2010 by Delaware Valley Quakers who felt a moral imperative to address the climate crisis through nonviolent direct action, including tactics like civil disobedience. It now includes people of diverse beliefs, united in a commitment to creating a just and sustainable economy for all. For over four years, EQAT has been an active member of the international Vanguard S.O.S. campaign, calling on the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels to invest sustainably.

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Contact:
Alec Connon, 206-258-9176, alec@stopthemoneypipeline.com
Sarah Lasoff, 818-929-8777, sarahlasoff@stopthemoneypipeline.com 

Seattle, WA – Today, a coalition of 68 civil society organizations representing more than 5.6 million supporters, released a major new report: Better Options: How large companies and nonprofits can select a climate-aligned credit card partner.

Better Options is a first-of-its-kind report that assesses the climate performance of the 20 largest credit card issuers in the United States based on their alignment with the International Energy Agency’s ’Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep 1.5°C Within Reach’.

Eight of the financial institutions analyzed did not provide large-scale financing to the fossil fuel industry in the time period analyzed (2021-2024), and are therefore aligned with the IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 pathway. These companies include major credit card issuers, such as American Express, Synchrony, and Credit One Bank.

Meanwhile, twelve of the financial institutions analyzed, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, provided tens of billions of dollars to the fossil fuel industry over the same timeframe, meaning they are deeply misaligned with the IEAs Net Zero pathway.

“What this means,” said lead author of Better Options, Sarah Lasoff with Stop the Money Pipeline, “Is that major companies with co-branded credit card partnerships have a decision to make: maintain their relationships with their existing credit card partners that are fueling the climate crisis; or come up with a clear and responsible plan to switch to a better option and partner with a company that’s aligned with their own climate goals and commitments.”

The Better Options report comes less than a week after scientists warned that Earth was getting perilously close to reaching a “point of no return” at which climate tipping points are triggered and runaway global warming threatens most life on Earth.The report also comes after nearly three years of campaigning to get Costco to end its co-branded credit card partnership with Citigroup, the world’s second-largest financier of fossil fuel expansion in recent years.

Since 2023, the Costco: Clean Up Your Credit Card campaign has gathered signatures from over 45,000 people, including 20,000 Costco members, urging the company to end its relationship with Citigroup; Costco shareholders have asked questions of the CEO at the company’s last two Annual General Meetings; and advocates have organized nearly 100 public events at farmers markets, Costco’s warehouses and headquarters, and published opinion pieces in media markets important to Costco.

In 2024, campaign leaders met with the Costco CEO at Costco’s HQ in Issaquah, WA, and have been engaging with Costco leadership since. However, one of the main obstacles campaigners have encountered when talking with Costco leadership is the lack of clarity about which credit card issuers climate-conscious companies should partner with. This is where the Better Options report comes in, as it lays out clear options for better co-branded credit card partners for large climate-responsible companies, such as Costco.

The Costco partnership is not insignificant to Citigroup. In total, Citigroup issues 82 million credit cards, and approximately 13 million of them (15.8%) are through its co-branded credit card partnership with Costco.

In order to find a more climate-aligned credit card partner, Costco needs to act now. Costco’s contract with Citigroup is up in 2029, which means their selection process for their next partner could start as soon as 2027. Campaigners and the authors of Better Options are urging Costco to commit to including climate criteria in its next credit card selection process. The Better Options report provides Costco and other companies with sample credit card selection criteria that are based on the IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 pathway. 

“If Costco, and other large companies, announce that they’re going to prioritize working with financial institutions that aren’t in the business of fueling climate chaos, it would make a real difference,” said Rémi Hermant, Policy Analyst with Reclaim Finance. “It would help provide a major financial incentive to banks to finally get behind a fair and swift energy transition.”

Costco is not alone in having a co-branded credit card with a bank that is financing the fossil fuel expansion that drives runaway global heating, environmental racism, and deadly pollution. Disney, Amazon, and Southwest Airlines have co-branded credit cards with JPMorgan Chase; Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and the Susan B. Komen Foundation, one of the country’s largest breast cancer advocacy groups, have cards with Bank of America; and Expedia and Choice Hotels have co-branded card partnerships with Wells Fargo.

“These banks are financing climate destruction and environmental racism. But socially responsible companies such as Costco, and foundations, such as the Susan B. Komen Foundation, have an opportunity to stand with communities like mine that are facing the burdens of fossil fuel pollution and climate disaster,” said Roishetta Sibley Ozane, CEO of the Vessel Project of Louisiana, who met with the Costco CEO in 2024. “All they need to do is choose a better option for their co-branded credit card partner.”

The Better Options report can be viewed at: www.BetterOptionsReport.com 

Additional Quotes

“Leadership means aligning your values with your power — especially in a moment as urgent as this one,” said Vanessa Arcara, President of Third Act. “Companies that publicly commit to climate responsibility cannot ignore the financial institutions they choose to partner with. The good news is that doing the right thing is entirely possible — and it doesn’t require hardship or sacrifice. Better options already exist. It simply takes one step of leadership to choose them and help accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and toward a just, livable future.”

“This report changes the game for the fight to end the funding of the fossil fuel industry and demonstrates the power of research: we had an ‘aha’ moment once we looked at global financial transactions and discovered that eight out of the twenty largest credit card issuers have not provided any large-scale financing to the fossil fuel industry in the past four years. That means that large institutions like Costco that want a co-branded credit card partner that isn’t funding the destruction of our planet, can now confidently choose one of the better options. Moving business on these terms will incentivize the entire banking sector to move away from fossil fuels.” – Lauren Parker, Researcher at LittleSis

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In a recent Heated newsletter, the esteemed climate reporter, Emily Atkin, wrote something that stayed with me:

“​​How am I supposed to keep writing about, and caring about, climate change and pollution and government capture by Big Oil, when the government is executing people in broad daylight? How am I supposed to watch the country descend into full-throated fascism, and then log on to my computer and say: anyway, about those methane regulations?”

As we have watched the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, that’s how I have felt at times. How can we stay focused on our campaigns to end the financial backing for Big Oil, as Trump builds out his own personal paramilitary force and calls on Republicans to seize control of election processes? Should we even try?

Contemplating these questions, I’ve reached a similar conclusion as Atkin did in her newsletter: maintaining a focus on ending the power of the fossil fuel industry is not insensitive or irresponsible, but essential. Not only for the role Big Oil plays in enabling authoritarianism―never forget the $445 million oil and gas companies donated to Trump and his cronies in 2024―but because, in an oil-addicted world of climate chaos, war and violence increase dramatically.  

But it cannot be our only focus. Not now.

That’s why, this month, you’re going to keep hearing from us about pushing Democrats to not provide another dollar to ICE, demanding corporations like Target stop accommodating ICE, and why our staff will continue to support powerful actions like this one at the Hilton in Manhattan.

But, even as we join this beautiful mass movement of people standing up to ICE and standing up for immigrants, we’re also going to remain focused on our core campaigns to end the power of the fossil fuel industry. 

One of our main strategies on that front right now is in our campaigns to force a wedge between the insurance industry and the fossil fuel industry. Here’s why that matters. 

All across the country, the insurance industry is leaving markets and increasing rates for millions of people, worsening the cost-of-living crisis. In California, insurance companies have refused to renew home insurance for at least 2.8 million people since 2020. In New York City, nearly 1 in 5 affordable housing developers say they’ve had to pause projects due to insurance challenges.

And we know why: Over the last twenty years, one-third of all weather-related payouts made by insurance companies can be directly attributed to climate change.

Yet, even as insurance companies abandon vulnerable communities, hike rates and avoid making payouts, they continue to provide insurance coverage to new coal, oil, and gas projects – and directly invest billions on fossil fuel companies. The hypocrisy is stunning. 

But this hypocrisy is also a campaign opportunity. So, too, is the fact that, unlike banks, insurance companies are regulated at the state level, giving us an opportunity to achieve meaningful progress during an extremely challenging political time. 

That’s why one of our top priorities this year is advancing the Insure our Communities Act in New York State. If passed, this game changing bill would…

• Prohibit New York-licensed insurers from insuring new oil, gas and coal projects. Because New York-licensed insurers operate globally, this provision could rule out private insurance for super-polluting projects everywhere.
• Prohibit New York-based insurers from investing in oil, gas and coal companies. Little known fact: insurance companies are also some of the world’s largest investors, managing trillions in investment capital. Forcing them to divest from fossil fuels would lock off a major source of finance to oil and gas companies.
• Require insurers to make community investments in disadvantaged communities, akin to the Community Reinvestment Act provisions that apply to banks.
• Provide discrimination protections for consumers, preventing insurers from discriminating based on climate risk, aka “bluelining”, and stopping insurers from dropping coverage for a community for at least one year after a climate disaster. 

Over the coming months, our team in New York will be doing all they can to build support for the Insure our Communities Act, hosting community meetings, town halls, lobbying days, partnering with tenants’ unions and housing justice groups, making the climate-driven insurability crisis an issue in the gubernatorial race, and more.

If you’re based in New York State, you can get involved in the Insure our Communities New York campaign here. (And if you’re not in New York, the folks at the Equitable and Just Insurance Initiative have a model Fossil Free Insurance bill that can be introduced in any state.)

In 2026, this is how we believe the climate movement needs to show up: we need to fight the rise of authoritarianism and we need to continue to attack the pillars of support that enable the world-destroying fossil fuel industry. 

In Solidarity,
– Alec Connon, Stop the Money Pipeline coalition director

News & Updates from the Coalition

– Not Another $$ for ICE

As the Senate debates funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Democrats must grow a backbone and refuse to commit another dollar in funding ICE.

Call your Senator here. Call, call, call. It’s increasingly clear Trump is building his own unaccountable paramilitary force, one that feels empowered to openly murder people in broad daylight. Democrats can stop him by holding firm in budget negotiations. Call now.

– Stand with Minnesota

The people of Minnesota continue to courageously resist the ICE siege in ways that are awe-inspiring, creative, and heartwarming. The rest of us need to back them up with everything we have. You can donate to Minnesota organizations here; gum up the works at Hilton hotels housing ICE in Minneapolis; or team up with your buddies and attend any of the marches and actions happening across the country, many of which are targeting corporate targets, such as the Hilton, Target, and Enterprise. On Feb 11th, there will be a day of action on Target. 

–  Flighting to Fossil Fuel Buildout in the Gulf South

On Tuesday, a methane gas pipeline in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, exploded, injuring at least one worker. The explosion happened just miles from where Venture Global – whose billionaire owners are accused of insider dealings in their cozy relationship with the Trump Administration– is attempting to build CP2, an LNG terminal that would have the climate impact of 54 coal-fired power plants.

Local community members are fighting back hard against CP2. Back them up by adding your voice to their letter to the banks and insurance companies behind the project.

– Costco… there are Better Options than Citibank!

Later this month, we’ll be releasing a groundbreaking new report: “Better Options: how large companies and nonprofits can select climate-aligned credit card partners”.

The report reviews the climate performance of the 20 largest credit card issuers in the United States and reveals that eight of those financial institutions do not funnel billions into the fossil fuel industry. Therefore, there are better options for co-branded credit card partners for large institutions like Costco, L.L.Bean and more.

Why does this matter? In total, Citibank, the world’s second-largest funder of fossil fuel expansion, issues 82 million credit cards; 13 million of them are through its partnership with Costco. If Citi loses Costco as a credit card partner over climate issues, it would be the largest example of a bank losing a client over climate concerns that we’re aware of.

Want to know more? Join our Costco: Clean Up Your Credit Card campaign update call on Thurs Feb 26th at 5pm PT / 8pm ET.

– Pushing Pensions to Act on Climate

Of all the financial institutions that should understand the threat of climate change, public pensions are pretty near the top. Pension trustees have a legal duty to steward pensions so that they’re still making healthy returns forty years from now, when a twenty-five-year-old paying into the system will retire. And that is very much threatened by the climate crisis.

Yet, a new report from the Sierra Club shows only 4 out of 29 of the largest pensions in the country have acceptable targets for climate investments, and emissions reductions. Read about it in Bloomberg – and then sign this sign this petition calling on public pensions to adopt climate solutions investment principles. 

– State Legislature in Full Swing

With the state legislative season well underway, the time is now to advance climate action at the state level.

You can take action with us in Illinois, click here to help pass the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act; in Ohio, stop a bill that would classify fracked gas as clean energy; in Virginia, support a bill to end tax breaks for large polluters and join our staff in attending a Lobby Day on Monday 9th; and in Washington State, you can help pass legislation to divest the state form coal and join 350 WA’s Civic Action Team for regular action updates.

– Venezuela, Imperialism, and Oil 

Surprise, surprise. Guess who is financing the fossil fuel companies set to profit from Trump’s imperial forays into Venezuela? Stand.earth breaks it down for us here and here. Top of the list are the terrible trio of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citibank. 

– Local Leads, Global Impacts 

And to finish on a more upbeat note. We launched our new leadership development program this week, Local Leads, Global Impacts. Over the next 9-months, 14 campaigners from across the country will receive training and mentorship from a variety of organizing experts from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Communication Workers of America (CWA), Little Sis, and others.

The program is designed to be a real world program and all participants are leading their own campaigns, ranging from statewide Make Polluters Pay campaigns to efforts to push cities to take action on the banks to campaigns to stop the fossil fuel build out in the Gulf South. We look forward to celebrating their wins with you in the months ahead.

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