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Posts by Ben Cushing

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The Hidden Risk in State Pensions

📢 Annual @sierraclub.org scorecard ranks 33 major U.S. public pensions and reveals most are failing to adequately manage the climate-related financial risks to their investments through proxy voting. 

See how your state stacks up:

5 days ago 11 6 0 1
The Hidden Risk in State Pensions Your nearest Sierra Club chapter:

📢 The latest @sierraclub.org scorecard ranks 33 major U.S. public pensions and reveals most are failing to adequately manage the climate-related financial risks to their investments through proxy voting.

See how your state stacks up here: www.sierraclub.org/hidden-risk-...

1 week ago 8 10 0 0
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Did your power bills go up last month? It might be because Donald Trump is forcing old coal plants to stay online, and making YOU pay to keep them running. Listen to Sierra Club Senior Attorney Greg Wannier answer how this is possible ⬇️

1 month ago 67 35 1 1
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Investors ignoring climate are risking our future, and theirs. Let’s fix that. New research reveals most asset managers are fueling risk, jeopardizing planetary stability and long-term performance.

“If asset owners want to protect their investments from climate impacts, they must stop asset managers from financing the companies fueling the crisis. Too many still aren’t acting," write Sierra Club & Reclaim Finance in @climateandcap.bsky.social.

1 month ago 23 12 0 2
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Climate coverage is shrinking. We're expanding it. Announcing a new weekly video podcast!

Remember when CBS News laid off its whole climate reporting team last fall?

Good news: I've scooped up their former senior climate producer, and now she's making a podcast with me.

Sucks to suck, David Ellison!

Listen/watch/subscribe here:

1 month ago 348 86 7 6
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Thinking about lying Climate denial taught our leaders shamelessness

The GOP learned to lie--shamelessly and obviously--from three decades of climate denial.
billmckibben.substack.com/p/thinking-a...

2 months ago 86 31 3 5
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The Sierra Club is suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its rollback of key climate protections, arguing the move is illegal, unscientific, and harmful to public health.

2 months ago 102 42 1 5
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Op-ed: City's new comptroller, pension trustees must lead on climate Comptroller Mark Levine and pension trustees can protect the city and its workers from the financial impacts of climate change.

New @nyccomptroller.bsky.social @marklevinenyc.bsky.social & NYC pension trustees are weighing a $40B+ move from BlackRock over its climate failures — which could set a key national precedent, writes Sierra Club ED Loren Blackford in @crainsnewyork.bsky.social:

2 months ago 15 10 0 0
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Op-ed: City's new comptroller, pension trustees must lead on climate Comptroller Mark Levine and pension trustees can protect the city and its workers from the financial impacts of climate change.

The new @nyccomptroller.bsky.social @marklevinenyc.bsky.social & NYC pension trustees are weighing moving $40B+ out of BlackRock over its climate failures.

This step could set a key national precedent, writes @sierraclub.org Executive Director Loren Blackford: www.crainsnewyork.com/op-ed/op-ed-...

2 months ago 17 9 0 1
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🚨 BREAKING: Trump is moving to eliminate the EPA’s Endangerment Finding — one of the strongest legal tools we have to fight climate pollution.

We will fight this. Polluters should pay — not the public. Read more at our statement bit.ly/4aNcAwb

2 months ago 32 21 12 1
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Rejection of Texas law blacklisting 'woke' BlackRock could challenge anti-ESG laws in other states A Texas judge's move to strike down a state law blacklisting "woke" financial firms, including BlackRock and HSBC, that used environmental, social or governance factors in investment decisions will likely drive a broader push to repeal so-called "anti-ESG" laws in other states, analysts said.

Rejection of Texas law blacklisting 'woke' BlackRock could challenge anti-ESG laws in other states reut.rs/4bG88kO

2 months ago 32 10 1 5

Huge. Laws like this were designed to punish investors for taking basic steps to address climate risk.

@sierraclub.org statement: www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

(Also worth noting: the firms targeted were never actually “boycotting” fossil fuels—that was political misinformation all along.)

2 months ago 25 13 1 1
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A Billionaire’s Surrender Bezos is not trying to save The Washington Post. He’s trying to survive Donald Trump.

For those of you who:

* Feel enraged to watch billionaires destroy important newsrooms

and

* Recall vaguely that Jeff Bezos was once considered a courageous owner who fortified the Washington Post

I recommend this piece by the Post's former fact-checker
glennkessler.substack.com/p/a-billiona...

2 months ago 327 128 23 9
Letter: How climate goals skewed incentives for Shell and BP From Ben Cushing, Director, The Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance Campaign, Washington, DC, US

Short-term investor pressure is driving companies to ditch climate plans, even though climate risk threatens long-term portfolios and the entire economy.

Great letter from @bmcushing.bsky.social @ @sierraclub.org:

www.ft.com/content/e100...

2 months ago 5 4 0 0
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2 months ago 22 18 2 1
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Tell the Senate: Not a penny more for ICE brutality | Indivisible

TODAY: The Senate is expected to hold its first procedural vote on the DHS funding bill — and it can’t pass without Democratic votes.

We need to flood the Senate with calls demanding Democrats hold the line and vote NO on giving more money to the regime’s death squads.

2 months ago 415 217 15 18

Small clarification: the headline that appears was written by the FT, not me. My submitted headline was "Investors should not conflate polluters’ interests with their own" — which better reflects the argument in the letter itself. Grateful nonetheless to have it published.

2 months ago 1 0 0 0
Letter: How climate goals skewed incentives for Shell and BP From Ben Cushing, Director, The Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance Campaign, Washington, DC, US

My letter on the @financialtimes.com story on BP/Shell’s climate rollbacks is now published.

The key takeaway: most investors should recognize that the interests of major polluters are often at odds with their own long-term portfolio interests—and should act accordingly.

www.ft.com/content/e100...

2 months ago 10 7 1 0
Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs.

The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs. The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

2 months ago 12092 4015 265 430
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Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.

tomorrow, StandWithMinnesota.com will hit a million site visits and over 650,000 unique visitors.

i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare.

thank you. thank you.

2 months ago 2743 996 72 57
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I don't know how to do this But I'm going to keep doing it anyway.

Wrote myself a pep talk to get back to work tomorrow. It helped me. Hope it helps you.

2 months ago 542 149 31 44
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California pension @calpers.bsky.social invested $60B in 'climate solutions'. So why does that include fossil fuels? 

As the largest U.S. public pension, what CalPERS does matters, writes Allie Lindstrom & Jakob Evans for @calmatters.org.

calmatters.org/commentary/2...

2 months ago 8 7 0 0
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New Report: Most U.S. Public Pensions Lag on Investing in Climate Solutions Needed to Protect Retirement Savings Only 4 of 30 pensions earn ‘strong’ scores for strategies to invest in climate solutions

🚨 Our new scorecard reveals U.S. public pensions are lagging on investing in climate solutions like clean energy & resilience infrastructure, despite knowing that climate change massively threatens millions of public sector workers' retirement savings.

2 months ago 6 5 1 0
Sierra Club report highlights 5 public pensions in US with climate-related investment targets.

Sierra Club report highlights 5 public pensions in US with climate-related investment targets.

@bmcushing.bsky.social: “Climate change is undermining the financial security of workers and retirees, and threatening the long-term performance of the diversified portfolios that pensions depend on." New @sierraclub.org report highlights the handful of US pensions taking climate seriously.

2 months ago 7 6 1 0

How are public pension managers addressing climate risks in their investments? New @sierraclub.org report rates different funds on their approaches to these critical issues. @jessyewaxman.bsky.social @bmcushing.bsky.social

2 months ago 3 3 0 0
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The Climate Solutions Gap: An Assessment of U.S. Public Pensions’ Investment Strategies

📊🌍 NEW Sierra Club report: How are U.S. public pensions managing climate risk through their investments—and are they directing capital to credible #climate solutions? This thread breaks down the key findings. 🧵👇
Read: www.sierraclub.org/reports/sust...

2 months ago 19 6 1 3
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US public pension funds falling short on climate risk, say NGOs Two new reports suggest funds are lagging on systematic integration of climate considerations and climate solutions portfolios.

Coverage from Responsible Investor of the new scorecard: www.responsible-investor.com/us-public-pe...

2 months ago 0 0 0 0
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Report: most US public pensions fail to invest in climate solutions Trump climate hostility is no excuse for pensions to evade duty to protect retirement savings from risks, says environmental group.

Coverage from @greencb.bsky.social of the new scorecard: greencentralbanking.com/2026/01/22/r...

2 months ago 0 0 1 0