“As climate chaos continues to threaten Americans—endangering livelihoods and putting our future at risk—the role of big financial institutions in accelerating this crisis must be addressed.”
As the ongoing COP26 climate summit draws attention to the financial institutions that enable fossil fuel companies to keep wrecking the planet, a pair of progressive U.S. senators on Friday introduced a bill that would force big banks to stop pouring money into the destructive industry.
The Fossil Free Finance Act, sponsored by Democratic Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.), would require the Federal Reserve to impose new restrictions on major banks and other systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) to cut off funding for projects that produce planet-heating emissions.
“In order to reduce emissions and combat climate change, we need to stop throwing money at dirty fossil fuel projects,” said Markey, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s panel on climate change, clean air, and nuclear safety.
(Photo: kris krüg/Flickr/cc)
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