Chill Out from Climate Anxiety
350 Humboldt presents Sarah Ray, HSU Environmental Studies associate professor and author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet, on Tuesday, June 2, 7 PM.
If we are to make a positive difference in our lives, we must avoid becoming overwhelmed by anxiety and fear. In this presentation on Zoom, Sarah will talk about ways to handle our feelings as we hear daily about the danger of climate change. She will be available to answer questions.
To Register for this event, click here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/chill-out-from-climate-anxiety
STOP THE MONEY PIPELINE!
On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2020, and for the following three days, we’re asking people to join the national campaign to Stop the Money Pipeline — the flow of cash from banks and capital firms to fossil fuel developers.
Just since the Paris Climate Accords in 2015, big banks have invested $1.9 trillion in fossil fuels. (See the national Stop the Money Pipeline here for details on the three day’s events).
Many of those banks are familiar names locally. Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi (sponsor of Costco’s popular credit card). You may have insurance through Liberty Mutual (so does the Keystone XL pipeline), or a credit card through Bank of America (they’ve given $106 billion in credit to fossil fuel companies).
And if you’re personally able to invest, you may be doing so through Blackrock, which oversees huge investments in fossil fuels and deforestation projects — even as renewable energy outpaces fossil fuels in profit — see this article from last week.
Some local Stop the Money Pipeline actions are below. We hope you can join in.
How can you help Stop the Money Pipeline? Here’s a few ways.
Post a review of these companies on a review website.
You don’t need to be a customer to have an opinion on their destructive practices. Are we getting a good deal if we suffer climate disaster?
Here are some review sites:
https://www.branchspot.com
https://www.wheresmybank.com/
https://www.yelp.com/
https://www.bankbazaar.com/
https://www.mybanktracker.com/
Afterward, let the company know why you gave them the review you did.
What to say about these companies in a review:
Liberty Mutual: nearly 10 percent of its investments are in fossil fuels, with subsidiary Liberty Metals and Mining Holdings funding a new coal mine in Australia despite catastrophic recent fires. They insure the Keystone XL pipeline which threatens the Missouri River. Is that any way to insure our future?
JP Morgan Chase has been the biggest banker of fossil fuels. It loaned $196 billion for fossil projects after the Paris climate accords and was the leading lender for Canadian oil sands — the dirtiest source of oil on Earth. They also fund Keystone. Are these folks working for us, or just their wealthy friends?
Blackrock is the world’s largest asset manager overseeing $7 trillion. Despite a recent announcement that it would change course to promote sustainability it continues to invest in deforestation and fossil fuels, and on April 1, 2020, invested in Keystone pipeline. Are they talking out both sides of their mouths?
Wells Fargo has been the top investor in developing the Keystone XL pipeline which threatens the water supply of the Sioux and other tribes. The characteristic western-themed decor of their branches will help neither Native Americans nor cowboys if they lose the water they rely on.
Citibank has lent $129 billion to fossil fuel developers since the Paris Accords, including the Keystone XL pipeline. What happens to their customers when the loans can’t be repaid?
Bank of America lent $106 billion to fossil fuel development since the Paris Accords. This won’t help America or any other nation.
Write a letter to the editor
Local newspapers want to hear from you — so share your thoughts. You may want to review their letter guidelines, which you’ll find at the web addresses in parentheses.
Times-Standard (https://www.times-standard.
930 Sixth Street
Eureka, CA 95501
email to: [email protected]
North Coast Journal (https://posting.
310 F St.,
Eureka CA 95501
email to: [email protected]
Mad River Union (https://madriverunion.com/
No hard copy accepted. Email letters to: [email protected].
What you could say in a letter to the editor
April 22 will be the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Are wildfires, massive hurricanes, extinctions and heat waves what Earth Day founders had in mind?
In 1970 our atmosphere had a CO2 level of 326 ppm. Now it’s 411 ppm. We’re heading toward climate disaster if we don’t stop the increase.
Much of that increase has been caused by investments in fossil fuel development by banks and capital firms, many of which also serve everyday Americans.
Humboldt residents use Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, and Citibank for savings or credit card services. Liberty Mutual sells car and home insurance. Some people have investments managed by Blackrock. All of these are major investors in fossil fuel projects being developed now, like the Keystone XL pipeline to bring Canadian tar sands oil to the US.
Fossil fuel investments have underperformed other stock market investments in each of the past six years. Renewable energy is a better place to invest and won’t destroy the planet.
We can make a difference by demanding that companies that use our money stop destroying our future. For this Earth Day, a network of groups including Greenpeace, 350.org, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Sierra Club are calling on people to take their personal business away from companies with huge investments in destroying the climate. It’s called the Stop the Money Pipeline.
Commit to moving your account if your institution doesn’t stop funding
fossil fuels
Do you have an account with any of the companies? If so, please consider writing a letter asking them to divest from fossil fuels. Commit to changing to a different institution if they don’t. You can post your letter on social media after sending it to your bank or other firm. If you have already moved your account, cut up your old bank or credit card on video and post it to YouTube or Facebook.
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350 HUMBOLDT URGES YOU TO JOIN YOUNG CLIMATE STRIKERS ON THE STREETS AND DEMAND AN END TO THE AGE OF FOSSIL FUELS!
Join the Global Climate Strike on 20-27 September: Global Climate Strike
350 Humboldt will rally on September 20 to support the global Climate Strike that has been initiated by youth the world over to focus attention on the climate crisis. This movement was sparked by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teen who, for many months on Fridays, stood in front of Swedish parliament instead of attending classes, in order to bring attention to the urgency of climate change.
On Twitter, Greta Thunberg called on all of us:
“We need everyone to join us — companies, trade unions, schools, universities, organizations, etc. and of course, individuals.”
The Climate Strike will take place the week before the UN Climate Summit and is meant to amplify the vision of increasing action on climate change. According to the UN website:
“The race is on. It is a race we can win. It is a race that we must win.”
Youth groups in Arcata, including the local affiliate of the Sunrise Movement, will hold a rally on the Arcata Plaza starting at noon. 350 Humboldt will sponsor a sister rally at the county Courthouse in Eureka, 825 5th Street, from 3 to 7 pm.
What can you do to be part of the climate strike?
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- Attend one or both of these local events. Come by bus or carpool, bike or walk.
- Write letters to the editor voicing your support for the strike.
- Call or write your representatives letting them know you expect action on climate change.
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Extinction Rebellion, a global youth climate action organization, reminds us that while despair and eco-anxiety are reasonable responses to this emergency, it will not solve it – we need to turn that energy into action.
We wholeheartedly agree! Join us for this action!