August, 10 2021, 09:15am EDT
Stop the Money Pipeline Members & Allies Release New Expectations for Forthcoming Biden Admin Climate-Related Financial Risk Strategy
WASHINGTON
Today, 86 members of the Stop the Money Pipeline (STMP) coalition and allies released a new letter outlining expectations for the Biden administration's forthcoming strategy on climate-related financial risk, which was mandated within 120 days of President Biden's May 20th Executive Order (EO) on the subject.
The letter was sent to National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Sholanda Young, who were tasked with developing the strategy. It provides a series of recommendations on what must be included in the strategy as directed in Section 2 of the executive order. The letter also calls for the administration's strategy to be made publicly available so that advocates and the public can have transparent insight into the administration's forward progress towards addressing climate risk.
READ THE EXPECTATIONS FOR THE FORTHCOMING CLIMATE RELATED FINANCIAL RISK STRATEGY
Member organizations of the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition released the following statements about the forthcoming strategy:
" The robust and bold executive order that our communities need is one that puts all financial institutions - public and private - firmly on a path to rapidly and drastically cutting emissions and centers racial, climate, environmental, and economic justice. We need President Biden stop the harm that financial institutions are fueling and we need him to direct reparative investments to Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities for a just recovery from decades of fossil fuel racism" said Erika Thi Patterson, Climate and Environmental Justice Campaign Director for the Action Center on Race and the Economy
"With the release of the new IPCC report and the ever present Line 3 pipeline being near completion, now more than ever it is imperative that this administration steps up and meets the SMTP executive order expectations and prioritizes bold climate action. Financial policy and regulation is one area where the administration has a myriad of existing authority that allows it to take the decisive and necessary steps to attenuate further climate chaos. We cannot allow Wall St to wreak any more havoc on our climate than they already have" said Amy Gray, Senior Climate Finance Strategist at Stand.earth
"With its climate-finance executive order, the Biden administration began catching up with frontline communities, climate advocates, the IPCC, and even the IEA in recognizing that investments in the industries causing climate change are catastrophic for people and the planet. But issuing plans to make plans doesn't match the urgency of the climate crisis, which is why we are saying loud and clear that the administration must do everything in its power to ensure the drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by public and private actors in ways that promote climate, racial, and economic justice" said Moira Birss, Climate & Finance Director, Amazon Watch
"As the latest report from the IPCC has made all too clear, we must stop extracting and burning fossil fuels now. That's why President Biden's forthcoming Climate-Related Financial Risk Strategy must unequivocally wind down federal programs support of fossil fuels, including divesting federal agencies from fossil fuel companies. Further this strategy must also stop new fossil fuel related infrastructure investments and focus on building renewable energy systems in a just and equitable manner" said Mitch Jones, Policy Director, Food & Water Watch
"The latest IPCC report released this week should light a fire under the feet of this administration to treat climate change like the grave emergency that it is and to take urgent action across the board to drastically reduce emissions. That includes confronting how financing for fossil fuel production drives climate chaos. President Biden's Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk provides a critical opportunity to ensure that the financial system is protected from, and protective of, the climate - but only if the administration makes clear that finance cannot be "net zero" unless finance is fossil-free" said Steven Feit, Senior Attorney, Center for International Environmental Law
Signatories:
- Action Center on Race and the Economy
- Indigenous Environmental Network
- Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)
- Mazaska Talks
- Rainforest Action Network
- Seeding Sovereignty
- Friends of the Earth US
- Oil Change International
- Amazon Watch
- 350.org
- Food & Water Watch
- Zero Hour
- Center for International Environmental Law
- PRBB Foundation
- Climate Hawks Vote
- Small Business Alliance
- Revolving Door Project
- Future Coalition
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Earth Guardians
- National Family Farm Coalition
- Earth Action, Inc.
- Stand.earth
- Our Part Foundation
- Green Education and Legal Fund
- WildEarth Guardians
- FracTracker Alliance
- CA Businesses for a Livable Climate
- CatholicNetwork US
- Businesses for a Livable Climate
- CO Businesses for a Livable Climate
- Power Past Fracked Gas
- Oil and Gas Action Network
- Climate Finance Action
- Social Eco Education (SEE-LA)
- The YEARS Project
- North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE)
- Sunflower Alliance
- 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations
- Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard
- Fossil Free California
- Revolution Coalition
- Bronx Climate Justice North
- North Bronx Racial Justice
- RapidShift Network
- Call to Action Colorado
- Wall of Women
- North Range Concerned Citizens
- Spirit of the Sun
- The Green House Connection Center
- Comite Nacional de Lucha Contra el Cambio Climatico, CNLCC-RD
- Global Energy Monitor
- Future Nexus
- Elders Climate Action
- No business
- Clean Energy Action
- Empower our Future
- 198 methods
- The Borneo Project
- Sisters Health & Wellness Collective
- Kickapoo Peace Circle
- Extinction Rebellion SF Bay
- Ktisis Capital
- 350 Colorado Springs
- 350 Seattle
- 350 Eugene
- 350 Hawaii
- NM Climate Justice
- 350 Juneau
- 350NYC
- 350Kishwaukee (Illinois)
- 350PDX
- MN350 Action
- 350Wenatchee
- 350 Triangle
- 350ma-Berkshires
- 350 Butte County
- SoCal 350 Climate Action
- Connecticut Citizen Action Group
- Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association
- 350 Conejo / San Fernando Valley
- Milwaukee Riverkeeper
- 350 Pensacola
- Unite North Metro Denver
- Climate Action Rhode Island - 350
- Solarize Albany County
The Stop the Money Pipeline coalition is over 160 organizations strong holding the financial backers of climate chaos accountable.
LATEST NEWS
'Stunning Abdication': Appeals Court Dismisses Biden Genocide Complicity Case
"We turned to the law to help stop the horror, and the court chose to do nothing," said one plaintiff in the case. "We are beyond disappointed."
Jul 16, 2024
Palestine defenders on Tuesday decried a U.S. federal appellate panel's dismissal of a case brought by Palestinians accusing senior Biden administration officials of failing to prevent and complicity in Israeli genocide in Gaza.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed a lower court's dismissal of the lawsuit against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which was led by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of several Palestinian groups and individuals.
During a Tuesday interview on Democracy Now!, CCR attorney Katherine Gallagher—who represented plaintiffs in the case—said its dismissal "essentially gives the blank check to carry out any kind of conduct that the executive wants in times of genocide, in times of war."
Gallagher's interview followed a Monday statement in which she referred to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting the president "absolute immunity" for "official acts."
"On the heels of Trump v. United States, this stunning abdication of the court's role to serve as a check on the executive even in the face of its support for genocide should set off alarm bells for all," she said.
The lawsuit—originally filed in November in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland—sought to stop the Biden administration from aiding Israel's bombardment of Gaza. U.S. weapons have played a critical role in Israel's war, which Palestinian and international agencies say has killed, wounded, or left missing more than 137,500 Gazans.
While the court found that "the current treatment of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military may plausibly constitute a genocide in violation of international law," it dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds in late January. The 9th Circuit subsequently granted an expedited appeal in the case, which was heard in June.
"This decision is mind-boggling and, frankly, scary," plaintiff Waeil Elbhassi said in a statement Monday. "It is just unfathomable, while we count our dead, witness the total obliteration of Gaza—aided by our own government."
"As the death toll keeps rising and we see nonstop images of carnage during this livestreamed genocide, the court washes its hands of our case," Elbhassi added. "We turned to the law to help stop the horror, and the court chose to do nothing. We are beyond disappointed. We have no choice but to continue to fight for our people. Our very existence is at stake."
Israel's conduct in Gaza—including alleged forced starvation that has fueled deadly famine in parts of the besieged strip—is under investigation by the International Court of Justice in a genocide case brought by South Africa.
Additionally, International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for warrants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for crimes including extermination allegedly committed on and after October 7.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Greg Casar Says There's an Easy Way to Show Which Party Is More Pro-Worker
"Let's see which politicians are for unions and which ones are all talk," said the Texas Democrat.
Jul 16, 2024
As former U.S. President Donald Trump's new running mate and a union leader's speech spark discussions about the Republican Party and organized labor, one Democratic congressman on Tuesday suggested a test to see who is actually pro-worker.
Rep. Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat with a history of
advocating for workers, called for holding a vote on the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act when his colleagues in Congress return to Capitol Hill next week.
"If Republicans wanna talk like they're pro-worker, then let's have a vote on the PRO Act next week," Casar said on social media. "Let's see which politicians are for unions and which ones are all talk. Dems are ready to vote, how about you guys?"
Introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the PRO Act "expands various labor protections related to employees' rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace." The vast majority of its co-sponsors are Democrats.
"Dems are ready to vote, how about you guys?"
Casar specifically called out House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who on Tuesday wrote for Compact Magazine about International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president Sean O'Brien's Monday night speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC), acknowledging that it "came as something of a shock."
Hawley called the speech "a watershed moment" and said that "Republicans have a chance to turn the corner on labor." He also took the opportunity to highlight some of his own positions, such as more sick days for rail workers. The senator left out that he has backed "right-to-work" laws that ban union security clauses in collective bargaining agreements and opposed the PRO Act.
O'Brien—who responded by saying that Hawley "is 100% on point"—had, as The Washington Post's Lauren Kaori Gurley put it, "showered praise" on the senator during his speech. The Teamsters leader also stressed the need for pro-worker reforms.
"Labor law must be reformed," O'Brien said. "Americans vote for a union but can never get a union contract. Companies fire workers who try to join unions and hide behind toothless laws that are meant to protect working people but are manipulated to benefit corporations. This is economic terrorism at its best. An individual cannot withstand such an assault. A fired worker cannot afford corporate delays and these greedy employers know it. There are no consequences for the company, only the worker."
He declared that "we need corporate welfare reform. Under our current system, massive companies like Amazon, Uber, Lyft, and Walmart take zero responsibilities for the workers they employ. These companies offer no real health insurance, no retirement benefits, no paid leave, relying on underfunded public assistance. And who foots the bill? The individual taxpayer. The biggest recipients of welfare in this country are corporations, and this is real corruption. We must put workers first."
O'Brien was invited to speak at the RNC by Trump, who on Monday secured enough delegates to become the Republican nominee and announced U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate—creating a ticket that Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, called "a corporate CEO's dream and a worker's nightmare."
Teamsters spokesperson Kara Deniz told the Post that the union leader requested to speak at the Democratic National Convention next month but has not yet received an invitation.
Unlike the Teamsters, several major labor groups endorsed Biden for reelection over a year ago. The Democrat describes himself as "the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history"—and he has mostly avoided angering organized labor, other than working with Congress to block a national rail strike in December 2022.
Biden became the first sitting president in history to walk a picket line when he rallied with United Auto Workers members in September. The UAW endorsed him in January, when the group's president, Shawn Fain, sharply criticized Trump and warned that "rarely as a union do you get so clear of a choice between two candidates."
O'Brien struck a much different tone on Monday, praising the ex-president and "characterizing both parties as ambivalent about unions with room to improve," as Post reporter Jeff Stein pointed out on social media. In addition to Sanders, Stein highlighted, "there are 48 Senate sponsors of the PRO Act. They all caucus with the Democratic Party. Zero are Republicans."
Only Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.)—who ditched the Democratic Party shortly after the 2022 election—have joined with the chamber's Republicans to oppose the PRO Act. In the GOP-controlled House, the bill is backed by every Democrat but just three Republicans: Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Ore.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), and Christopher Smith (N.J.).
"On June 21, 2023, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders passed the PRO Act 11-10," Warren Gunnels, the panel's majority staff director, noted Tuesday. "Every Democrat on the committee voted yes. Every Republican on the committee voted no."
Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) said, "To the Republicans at the RNC who want to appear to support American labor, here's an idea: Come join us to pass the PRO Act."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Sightings of Uncontacted Tribe Spur Calls to End Logging in Peruvian Amazon
"This is a humanitarian disaster in the making—it's absolutely vital that the loggers are thrown out, and the Mashco-Piro's territory is properly protected at last," said the director of Survival International.
Jul 16, 2024
A leading rights group on Tuesday called for loggers to be "thrown out" of a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon following recent sightings of people belonging to what is believed to be the world's largest uncontacted Indigenous tribe.
London-based Survival International published video and photos of dozens of Mashco-Piro people taken near the village of Monte Salvado in southeastern Peru near the Brazilian border. The group said that in recent days, more than 50 Mashco-Piro have appeared near the village, which is inhabited by the related Yine people. A group of 17 Mashco-Piro were also recently sighted near the neighboring village of Puerto Nuevo.
Several logging companies are operating within just a few miles of where the Mascho-Piro were spotted. One company operating inside Mashco-Piro territory, Canalaes Tahuamanu, has laid more than 120 miles of road there to facilitate timber extraction. The company is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as a sustainable and ethical operator, even though it is known to be felling trees inside Mashco-Piro territory. Survival International is calling on the FSC to withdraw its certification.
"This is a humanitarian disaster in the making—it's absolutely vital that the loggers are thrown out, and the Mashco-Piro's territory is properly protected at last," Survival International director Caroline Pearce said in a statement Tuesday. "The FSC must cancel its certification of Canales Tahuamanu immediately—failure to do so will make a mockery of the entire certification system."
Alfredo Vargas Pio, president of the local Indigenous group Native Federation of the RÃo Madre and its Tributaries, called the new photographs "irrefutable evidence that many Mashco-Piro live in this area, which the government has not only failed to protect, but sold off to logging companies."
"The logging workers could bring in new diseases which would wipe out the Mashco-Piro, and there's also a risk of violence on either side," he added, "so it's very important that the territorial rights of the Mashco-Piro are recognized and protected in law."
In 2014, Peruvian authorities evacuated residents from Monte Salvado by boat after around 200 Mashco-Piro armed with bows and arrows raided the village, killing livestock and pets and taking food and tools. In 2022, Mashco-Piro members killed 21-year-old Peruvian logger Gean del Aguila and wounded another man with arrows as they fished on the Tahuamanu River.
In the 1890s most Mashco-Piro were either enslaved or exterminated by private mercenaries hired by self-described Peruvian "Rubber King" Carlos Fitzcarrald—immortalized in the 1982 Werner Herzog film Fitzcarraldo. Surviving Mashco-Piro fled deeper into the Amazon and avoided contact with most outsiders. They fiercely defended their territory from intruders. However, in recent decades, loggers have penetrated and exploited Mascho-Piro lands.
There are believed to be more than 750 Mascho-Piro living in Peru. They sometimes cross the border into Brazil.
"They flee from loggers on the Peruvian side. At this time of the year they appear on the beaches to take tracajá eggs," Rosa Padilha of the Indigenous Missionary Council in the Brazilian state of Acre toldThe Guardian, referring to a species of Amazon turtle.
"That's when we find their footprints on the sand. They leave behind a lot of turtle shells," Padilha added. "They are a people with no peace, restless, because they are always on the run."
Around 15 other uncontacted Indigenous tribes with as many as 15,000 members are believed to remain in the Peruvian Amazon. It is illegal to make contact with such peoples for fear they would contract common human illnesses that could be fatal to unexposed populations without immunity.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular