Stop and Steer the Money Working Group

Lots of folks, including environmental activists, don’t readily make the connection between money and climate change. The fact is, our money enables the fossil fuel industry to carry out its climate destruction. Banks use our deposits to fund the industry’s growth, insurance companies use our premiums to insure the industry’s expansion projects, and investment managers and pension funds use our retirement funds to not only invest in the industry’s future but vote on our behalf to carry out corporate plans that threaten our planet’s health. But there’s good news: collectively, our money is our power, so let’s use it to create the world we want!

The Stop and Steer the Money Working Group engages and educates members to disrupt the fossil fuel industry’s financial support. We partner with a host of environmental allies to conduct bank boycotts and shareholder actions, while educating activists on how to divest their personal funds from the largest financial supporters of the fossil fuel industry (our “Stop the Money” mission). We work closely with our ally, As You Sow, to help activists decarbonize their portfolios, by screening for fossil fuel free investments, identifying investment companies aligned with our values, and learning about the power of the investment vote (our “Steer the Money” mission) while supporting local MA groups working with the MA State Treasurer to influence pension fund policy.

The Stop and Steer the Money Working Group is also active on Slack. Join us here!

Email us at [email protected] to get in touch!

In October 2022, the S&S Working group held a webinar on banks and credit cards. We address which banks to avoid, how to find a bank that aligns with your values (think small and local), and the importance of knowing who the issuing bank is behind your credit card. You can find a recording of our webinar here.

Here is the slideshow which accompanies our webinar.

Here are the accompanying documents from our webinar, including a 2 page summary on banks and as well as a longer background document for those who want more banking details. We also have a 2 page summary and background document for credit cards.

In January of 2022, the Stop & Steer the Money Working Group hosted Mary Cerulli of Climate Finance Action, for a webinar entitled “The Power of Public Money to Fight Climate Change. “ The webinar takes participants through the basics of pension funds and the power they wield through their sheer size and proxy voting power. It also addresses the role that State Treasurers play in nudging pension funds to become more activist. Special focus is on the role our MA Treasurer has played.

A link to the presentation can be found here.

Working Group Contact: [email protected]