John -
We launched a BIG campaign in 2021 targeting the referee of the U.S. economy: the Federal Reserve.
As we begin the new year, I want to catch you up on everything we accomplished last year as part of our Fossil Free Fed campaign. This email is longer than usual, but I hope you will take a few minutes to read it and get up to speed and ready for what’s ahead.
First, here’s how it all started:
For the last decade, 350’s been calling on public and private investors and institutions to cut ties and divest from fossil fuels – and we’ve been incredibly successful.1 That’s why we decided to turn our energy to the biggest fish in the financial sea: the Federal Reserve System (the Fed).
The Fed’s job is to protect our economy and financial system from risk – including climate risk. But for years, they’ve done the exact opposite by bailing out fossil fuel companies and allowing the largest U.S. banks to pour nearly $1 trillion into risky fossil fuels, even after the U.S. signed onto the Paris Agreement.2 It’s time for change.
Our campaign strategy has been three-fold:
There's no doubt that this is one of the single most ambitious campaigns we've ever taken on here at 350.org. It's a campaign we knew we wouldn't win overnight. So I want to chart out for you — month by month — how we implemented our strategy in 2021 and what’s ahead:
Beginning in May, we started collecting signatures calling on President Biden to nominate a climate leader as the next Fed Chair to replace Jerome Powell. We knew that Biden would make his decision on who to nominate in late 2021, so we got to work.
We received some good news early on when Biden signed the first ever Executive Order for the financial sector to address the climate crisis on May 20.3
In early July, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would incorporate climate into its policy-making decisions across Europe. As one of the most influential central banks in the world, this was a crucial win. We mobilized this momentum to put more pressure on Biden and the Fed to follow suit.
Later that month, we launched an explainer video that runs through the role of the Fed and the theory of change behind our campaign. Financial policy is often made intentionally confusing to avoid public accountability. That’s why a big part of our focus has been popular education on the role of the Fed in the climate crisis.
We had planned a large action in Jackson Hole, Wyoming during the Economic Policy Symposium, but when the conference switched to online at the last minute, we quickly pivoted to online actions, partnered with Protect Our Winters on a massive banner drop in the Teton mountains, and took action outside the Federal Reserve branch in Denver.
Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and other progressive members of Congress joined the movement calling on President Biden to replace current Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, with someone who will take serious action on the climate crisis.4
Later that month, Reps. Mondaire Jones, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley introduced the Fossil Free Finance Act which would require the Federal Reserve to hold big banks accountable for financing fossil fuels. We mobilized our supporters to send letters to their representatives urging them to cosponsor the bill.
Then, our movement delivered over 40,000 petition signatures encouraging President Biden to nominate a new Federal Reserve Chair who will prioritize the climate.
On October 29 (right before COP 26), our movement took action outside thirteen Federal Reserve branches across the country calling for change at the Fed and demanding that President Biden nominate a climate champion as Federal Reserve Chair.
These actions, led by 350 local groups, took place at Federal Reserve branches in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Dallas, and beyond. You can watch a video highlighting the actions here.
In November, Senators Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley introduced the Senate version of the Fossil Free Finance Act which would effectively cut off the flow of funds from big banks to fossil fuel companies. We mobilized our supporters to send letters to their senators urging them to cosponsor the bill.
On November 22, we officially got word that President Biden renominated Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve. Biden's decision to ignore the leading voices in economics, members of Congress, and — most importantly — tens of thousands of supporters who called on his administration to nominate a true climate leader is a blatant disregard for our mandate to shift the economy and keep warming below 1.5 degrees.
Biden did heed climate advocates' call for climate champions at the Fed and nominated Lael Braniard as Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve. Lael Brainard has sounded the alarm on how financial institutions must take action on the climate crisis.
We mobilized immediately, sending letters to our senators urging them to vote NO on Powell’s confirmation. So far, three Democratic senators have committed to voting against Powell: Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
In December, we called on Biden to nominate climate leaders for the three remaining seats on the Federal Reserve Board.
Having strong leadership in these key positions could help steer the Fed toward regulating the Big Banks and cutting off the flow of funds to fossil fuels – regardless of whether Jerome Powell gets confirmed by the Senate in January.
2021 was just the beginning, John. We’ve already seen the pillars of power begin to crack and there is so much ahead for our work to push Biden, Congress, and the Fed to cut off the flow of funds to fossil fuels. Together, I know we can transform the future and fossil fuel finance as we know it.
The Senate confirmation hearing on Powell’s nomination is supposed to take place later this month. Together, we will leverage the full weight of our movement to call on the Senate to do what is right for our communities and our planet and reject Powell’s nomination – and to confirm the nomination of Lael Brainard for Vice-Chair.
Thank you for making the first year of this campaign a success. None of it would be possible without you, John.
Brooke Harper
Regional Campaigns Strategist
350.org
P.S. To stay up to date on the campaign and learn more, check out our campaign website at fossilfreefederalreserve.com.
1 - 350.org
2 - Bailout Watch and Banking on Climate Chaos
3 - CNBC
4 - POLITICO
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