Fighting the Climate Crisis: Divestment, Regenerative Farming, and Happy Hours

In This Issue

• Upcoming Events

  • 7/13- Climate Play Table Reading

  • 7/18- 350 Chicago Happy Hour

  • 7/20- 350 Chicago Tabling at Patagonia

  • 7/23- 350 Chicago Speaker Series - Regenerative Farming

• In Brief

  • Fighting for Climate Justice at 47th Ward EcoFest!

  • 350 Chicago at Oak Park Farmers Market

  • Urgent Deployment of Existing Technology Needed to Reach Net-Zero

• Main Article: Divesting from Fossil Fuels for America’s Birthday

Events

Looking to stay on top of 350 Chicago’s event calendar? We list events, protests, speakers, team meetings, and more on our Meetup page here: 350 Chicago Meetup

Climate Play Table Reading

• Saturday, July 13, 3:00 pm

• Links Hall, 3111 N. Western Avenue

Come out to Links Hall on Saturday, July 13 at 3pm for a table reading of the play Come Along for the Ride: A Journey Through Climate Grief. The play dives deep into the complex consequences of climate change, from the personal to the profound. The reading will be followed by an audience discussion. Follow this link to learn more and purchase tickets in advance.

350 Chicago Happy Hour

• Thursday July 18th, 6:30pm - 8:30pm

• District Brew Yards, 417 N. Ashland Avenue Chicago, IL 60622

• Registration HERE

350 Chicago is hosting a Happy Hour! Come out to District Brew Yards on Thursday, July 18th from 6:30 - 8:30 PM for a bit of socializing with volunteers of our organization and learn about the work 350 Chicago is doing in the city of Chicago and in Illinois.

Look for us at one of the larger tables and enjoy a high quality beer and talk about the climate, your favorite book, your favorite baseball team or just about any topic. Must be 21 to attend.

350 Chicago Tabling at Patagonia

• Saturday July 20th, 12:00pm - 3:00pm

• Patagonia Action Works, 1115 W. Fulton Market

Swing by our friends at Patagonia in Fulton Market to learn more about 350 Chicago's fight for fossil fuel divestment in Illinois. Learn more about Patagonia Action Works here.

The Power of Regenerative Farming

• Tuesday, July 23rd, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

• Online Registration: HERE

In this next entry in our 350 Chicago Speaker Series, our speakers will discuss how the widespread adoption of regenerative farming can help stop the climate crisis by drawing down existing atmospheric CO2 into the soil where it is vitally needed to help maintain soil health, and grow healthy food. The speakers will also discuss how regenerative farming can help solve many other serious problems that we face in addition to the climate crisis.

In Brief

Fighting for Climate Justice at 47th Ward EcoFest!

350 Chicago, dozens of other non-profits and small businesses, and countless curious community members braved the rain on June 1st to take part in the 47th Ward's annual EcoFest. We stayed dry inside the Welles Park gymnasium to educate the public about our current action campaigns, pushing for divestment from fossil fuels in the state of Illinois and for lobbying reform in Illinois with our Utility Accountability Campaign. We collected dozens of signatures from community members in support of state divestment through our State Divestment Postcards which we will hand-deliver to state legislators to show the strong support we have from Illinoisians who want to send a signal that fossil fuels are a bad investment for both the pension fund and our future as a planet!

350 Chicago at Oak Park Farmers Market

On Saturday, June 29th, 350 Chicago tabled at the Oak Park Farmers Market, talking about our work in Chicago and Illinois. We informed people about volunteer opportunities, our Utility Accountability Campaign, Speaker Series, ways to follow us on social media and the State Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign with our partners in the Climate Safe Pensions Illinois coalition. 

We gained over one hundred signatures on the postcards, asking state representatives and senators to support and co-sponsor the Illinois Fossil Fuel Divestment Act. 

Urgent Deployment of Existing Technology Needed to Reach Net-Zero

A recent report published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance claims the world still has time to meet the primary goal of the Paris Agreement - keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius - but this window is rapidly shrinking. In order to ensure a “net-zero trajectory” that will set us up for success by 2050, emissions and fossil-fuel use must peak immediately. Getting this done will be no small feat considering the energy needs of hard to abate sectors like power, transport, manufacturing, and building. But the report highlights nine key technologies that have potential to be deployed at a sufficient scale that that are up for the challenge.

Divesting from Fossil Fuels for America’s Birthday

by Joshua Horwitz

As we just finished celebrating America’s 249th Birthday this Fourth of July, it’s worth taking stock of how far we’ve come and what’s in store for us next. Due to increasingly rapid changes to our climate, future birthdays are going to get more difficult. NASA recently laid out the far-reaching consequences: worse droughts and heatwaves, rising sea levels and population displacement…the list goes on. And as a country, we have a unique responsibility since the USA has contributed more to climate change historically than any other nation. But then the question remains: what to do about it?

There are many ways to make a dent in the climate crisis, and one avenue that may not be on your radar is Divestment. In short, divestment means diverting income away from polluters and those who support them, and ideally reinvesting that into more sustainable places that aren’t destroying our planet. In essence, divestment is about going after the money. Divestment is one of the major pillars of what 350 is all about, and a primary focus of 350 Chicago.

“The logic of divestment couldn’t be simpler: if it’s wrong to wreck the climate, it’s wrong to profit from that wreckage.” - Bill McKibbon, founder of 350.org

Divestment campaigns put pressure on large sources of money such as banks, pension funds, and insurance companies to stop serving as a lifeline to a dying industry that is destroying our planet. In 2022, 350 Chicago scored a big win after 8 years of hard work: we successfully persuaded the City of Chicago to divest 70 million dollars away from fossil fuel investments. On the heels of that victory, the current 350 Chicago Divestment campaign is focused on State of Illinois pension funds. The goal is to show legislators that investing in fossil fuels is not only bad for the planet, but it’s also bad for pensioners! Studies have shown clearly that investing in fossil fuel companies hurts returns of funds that do so and returns improve if the funds divest resources out of dying, planet destroying companies.

Want to do your part and support our divestment campaign, or just learn more about what we do? We have a divestment team led by super volunteer Babette Neuberger and are looking for dedicated volunteers to join our team. Or, if you have other ideas on how you can contribute to our mission, submit a volunteer application or come join our happy hour this month or one of our upcoming events and learn more!