Mature Flâneur
United Airlines Not-So-Climate-Friendly Skies
Send a message to CEO Scott Kirby to live up to United’s climate commitments
After being a loyal customer for 20 years, on March 21, 2023 I plan on cutting up my United Airlines Explorer visa card, issued by Chase Bank. Here’s why you might want to do so, too.
I fly, mostly on United. But I’m also aware that flying has a huge carbon footprint. So I fly way less than I used to. It’s not enough, I know. I also know there’s no virtue in reducing one’s personal climate footprint in a global society that continues to gorge on oil. So the question is, can my actions in reducing my carbon emissions join with the actions of others to make an actual difference? The answer to this is yes — in fact, within the next ten days in can make a big difference.
A US-based climate-activist organization called Third Act is in the midst of a campaign to have customers close their bank accounts and credit cards at four big banks that are the main lenders to oil companies. That’s right, according to the Banking on Climate Chaos Report , if you bank with Bank of America, Chase, CitiBank, or Wells Fargo, then your money is being used to finance fossil fuel projects, including exploratory oil and gas drilling, coal mining, building new pipelines, refineries, and more.
We all know we need to reduce our dependance on oil and gas, today. So building new exploration and infrastructure that will pump carbon into the skies for the decades to come is insane. Third Act’s aim is to have enough people close their accounts on March 21, 2023 to send a message to dirty banks: stop financing oil and gas and destroying our planet’s future. Their website also offers a list of banks and credit card companies that do not invest in oil.
Now, United Airlines partners with Chase Bank with their Explorer Visa Card. Chase, according Banking on Climate Chaos Report is by far the worst of the dirty big banks, investing $382 billion in fossil fuels between 2016–21.
I’ve used my Explorer credit card extensively for the past 20 years, racking up a ton of extra miles in the process. It’s my main card. I’m a great customer. So, I want to send a message to both Chase and United that they should end their investments in fossil fuels, or they will lose a lot of good customers like me.
Why do I think United will care? After all, doesn’t United use fossil fuel to fly their planes? To their great credit, United has a target for reducing their carbon emissions to zero by 2050. That’s not soon enough, but it’s a good start. Key to their strategy is shifting entirely to non-oil-based jet fuels. Here’s what their CEO, Scott Kirby has promised on the United.com website:
“We’re embracing a new goal to be 100% green by 2050 by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions 100%. And we’ll get there not with flashy, empty gestures, but by taking the harder, better path of actually reducing the emissions from flying. We (also) realize there’s a limit to what a single company can do alone. That’s why we are continuing to seek opportunities to collaborate with other industries. We must reach across industries to develop coordinated efforts to accomplish what must be our collective goal of carbon neutrality.”
— Scott Kirby, Chief Executive Officer, United Airline
I’m on United’s side here. I respect their committment. I would like them to continue to take the harder path, and send a message to Chase Bank. So, This is my email to United Airlines CEO: (you can write him too at: scott.kirby@united.com. (If Mr. Kirby responds, I will add that to this article).
Dear Scott Kirby and United Airlines,
I commend you for your climate committments and your pledge not use fossil fuels in your planes in the future, and for your willingness to take the “harder, better path.” So, I urge you to stop supporting oil exploration through your credit-card partner Chase Bank.
Send a message to Chase Bank asking them to end its investments in fossil fuels, or you will end your credit card partnership. This will be a strong signal to your customers that you are serious about your commitment to zero emissions, and to doing your part to to bend the curve away from catastrophic climate change.
I will be joining thousands of others at Third Act, cutting up my United Explorer Chase Visa Card and cancelling my account on March 21, 2023. I urge United to use this opportunity to get Chase Bank’s attention. Why not call JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and tell him yourself? This would have a huge, immediate benefit on the global climate, well aligned with your mission.
Please do this, and I’ll be back as your loyal customer again.
Tim Ward
Of course, if you don’t have an account, you can still support the ThirdAct campaign by signing the Banking on Our Future Pledge and attending one of more than 90 events on March 21 designed to send the message to the four “dirty banks.”
Will it work? Here’s what Bill McKibben, founder of Third Act, had to say about it in a recent article:
“…HSBC, largest bank in Europe, announced in December that they would no longer fund new oil and gas fields like this. We need the American banks to follow suit. It’s not easy — this is the capital in capitalism — but it’s key. Some people are closing out their accounts and cutting up their credit cards — but the real point is simply to be making a big noise so that Americans understand the link between cash and carbon.”
It won’t be easy to cut up a credit card I have depended on for years, and say bye-bye to the benefits. But if I can take on a bit of inconvenience to take part in a collective push for positive change for the good of our future, I’ll do it.
I hope you will too. Please leave a comment, and more importantly, sign the Third Act pledge in the link below, and make your voice heard on March 21.
