Copy


Help stop the buildout of harmful carbon capture and storage projects


The federal government is greenlighting carbon capture and storage projects that will perpetuate fossil fuel pollution. It is also proposing to give oversight of those projects to some of the most fossil fuel-friendly states. 


Carbon capture technologies capture emissions from fossil-fueled power plants and industrial facilities, and then inject them underground in carbon waste injection wells, repurposed to extract more polluting fossil fuels, or reused in products. The fossil fuel industry champions carbon capture as a way to keep burning coal and gas with a supposedly smaller climate impact.  


But burying carbon underground doesn’t make its environmental impact go away. The risks from injecting it include earthquakes, drinking water contamination, and releases of concentrated CO2 that can send people to the hospital.


Urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to maintain federal oversight over emerging carbon capture injection technology. 


Call to action link here >>


America’s largest asset managers must stop fueling the climate crisis


The world's biggest investors are worsening the climate crisis by pouring more and more money into fossil fuels and refusing to hold polluters accountable. 


Asset managers have two big sources of power: where they invest their clients’ money and how they use their shareholder votes. By using these two in tandem, large investors can have a huge influence in steering corporate decisions toward cleaner and more sustainable solutions. 


Instead, some of the biggest investors in the world are pouring billions of dollars annually into companies that are building out new fossil fuel projects and locking us into a dangerous future. The latest Asset Manager Scorecard shows that out of 30 global asset managers, just two firms — BlackRock and Vanguard — were responsible for 58% of the recent investments in fossil fuel expansion. 


Tell the CEOs of BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street and Fidelity to put our long-term savings over short-term fossil fuel profits. That means no more money for companies expanding fossil fuels, and using their shareholder power to hold polluters — and the banks that fund them — accountable. 


Call to action link here >>


It's time for federal buildings to reduce consumption of fossil fuels 


Sierra Club's Building Electrification campaign is taking action to protect our health from in-home pollutants and reducing carbon emissions by electrifying buildings. 


Despite evidence that gas stoves can harm our health by leaking pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, there are still no meaningful regulations in place to protect our health and safety. 


Organizations and experts are calling on the Department of Energy (DOE) to take action now to electrify federal buildings in order to reduce climate pollution, save money for taxpayers, and benefit federal workers. Every month of further delay means new and renovated federal buildings are not reducing their consumption of fossil fuel generated energy. 


Urge the DOE to finally finalize a rule to electrify federal buildings. 


Call to action link here >>


Call on institutions to divest from fossil fuel investments


The March 2023 IPCC Report says that if we don't stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible, we will not be able to cap the increase in global temperature at 1.5°C (2.7°F). Eliminating fossil fuels requires a huge shift in the flow of global money towards investment in renewable energy and away from investment in new fossil fuel development, such as new oil fields and pipelines and infrastructure for exporting liquified natural gas. 


The good news is that global investment in renewable energy now exceeds investment in fossil fuels. The bad news is that post-pandemic there has been a rebound in investment in new fossil fuel projects and an International Energy Agency model predicts that future CO2 emissions from these new projects will result in failure to reach the 1.5°C (2.7°F) target.


Asset divestment (the opposite of investment) is a well-established and effective way to amplify the voices of large numbers of ordinary people and to influence institutions to switch the money that they control from doing harm to more beneficial uses. 


Climate-harming assets that may be held by institutions include direct investments in fossil fuel company stocks and bonds and indirect investments in conglomerates, private equity firms and banks that make loans for new fossil fuel development. 


Calling for divestment tells institutions that people care about the climate and will hold them accountable. The Global Divestment Database reports commitments of $40 trillion in fossil fuel assets to be divested by universities, pension funds, banks, faith-based organizations, foundations and governments.


See this post in our Toolbox of Local Actions for examples of local climate divestment actions: https://localclimateactions.org/fossil-fuel-divestment/

Switch your banking and investing to climate-friendly institutions


Divestment can also be a personal strategy, seemingly a small gesture like changing light bulbs, but one that can create momentum when many people do it.


The first place to start is with your bank. In spite of climate pledges made by most of the largest U.S. banks, $673 billion of the $1 trillion in global fossil fuel funding invested in 2022 came from banks.


Environmental voices, among them Bill McKibben and Third Act, have been calling for divestment from the “Big Four” U.S. banks that are top funders of fossil fuel: JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. The Sierra Club adds two more to the “dirty” list: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. 


In spring 2023, demonstrations were held outside the general meetings of these banks and Third Act created a campaign asking people to pledge to cut up their credit cards and switch to greener banks. Details of fossil fuel financing by a longer list of global banks can be found in the annual Banking on Climate Chaos report


If you have investments, there is more action that can be taken. A report by Sierra Club and others, called 'Who’s Managing Your Future', ranks asset managers by their holdings in companies that extract fossil fuels or build fossil fuel infrastructure. As of January 2023, the top four were Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street and JP Morgan AM.


Consider changing your banking and investments to strengthen a renewable energy future rather than a fossil fuel past.