Calling out the Banks that Back Big Oil
Discussing divestment with Indigenous Organizer, Jackie Fielder
It was a recent Tuesday when I hopped on a call with Jackie Fielder. The Indigenous organizer captured attention last year in her riveting run for California State Senate. She lost her race, but her campaigning for causes central to her candidacy has pressed on. Among them: fossil fuel divestment — the reason why she reached out.
When not advancing one of her signature issues, to decolonize San Francisco’s housing market, Fielder helps manage public relations for Stop the Money Pipeline, an effort by some 160 organizations to hold banks and insurance companies accountable for the fossil fuel projects that they support.
When we spoke, Climate Week NYC was just kicking off and among its primary sponsors was Bank of America. This frustrated Fielder. “They are one of the largest backers of fossil fuels,” she said.
According to the latest Banking on Climate Chaos report from a global alliance of nonprofit organizations, Bank of America is among the top five investors of the world’s energy development agenda— this, despite recent commitments by the bank to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.
