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Ben Cushing

@bmcushing.bsky.social

2.4K followers 1.1K following 69 posts

👋 Director of the @SierraClub.org Sustainable Finance Campaign: sc.org/sustainable-finance 📍 DC resident, Oakland raised 💭 Thinking a lot about climate, finance, politics, & the NBA

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Ben Cushing @bmcushing.bsky.social · Jun 10

📣👋 New paper from @sierraclub.org out today! It's been a long time in the making.

It challenges conventional sustainable investing and urges asset owners to confront climate change as a systemic threat to the global economy and long-term portfolios.

👉 Full paper: www.sierraclub.org/systemic-cli...

Cover of paper from the Sierra Club titled "The Long Term Will Be Decided Now: Why Climate Risk Demands System-Level Action from Investors" (June 2025)

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Ben Cushing @bmcushing.bsky.social · 1d

"Pension fund managers and other long-term asset owners have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the interests of beneficiaries decades into the future — not least by acting against long-term climate risks."

Important piece on @financialtimes.com: on.ft.com/4h8q20e

Why pension funds are still pushing for climate action

Long-term asset owners have bucked the financial sector trend of retreat on green goals

on.ft.com

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Ben Cushing @bmcushing.bsky.social · 1d

👀🙂 www.commondreams.org/news/zohran-...

'Ready to Fight for Us': Schumer and Jeffries Still Haven't, But Sierra Club Endorses Zohran Mamdani | Common Dreams

The Sierra Club endorses Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor, praising his environmental advocacy and commitment to clean energy. Will New Yorkers rally behind this progressive leader who has a proven track ...

www.commondreams.org

Reposted by Ben Cushing

In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 10d

"As some of the world’s largest institutional investors, pension funds are especially exposed to the risks posed by climate change. They’re also uniquely positioned to address them."

@rebeccaburns.bsky.social on how to reclaim pensions for the common good.

inthesetimes.com/article/fina...

Financing Our Own Destruction

How workers’ pensions fuel attacks on the working class—and how to reclaim them for the common good.

inthesetimes.com

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 2d

Please enjoy this executive at one of America's biggest gas companies openly admitting that expanding supply leads to increased demand for fossil fuels

He is not wrong: frantic expansion of fossil fuel supply worsens climate change. Tax it, cut subsidies, wind it down

www.ft.com/content/5ba8...

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https://www.ft.com/content/5ba8caec-61d3-4aa9-a877-9b200ef4b5b0

Will Jordan, chief legal and policy officer at EQT, a leading US gas producer, also thought that any glut would be temporary, and said US demand was also rising on the boom in power-hungry artificial intelligence data centres.

Recommended

Oil & Gas industry
BP’s new chair signals more asset sales and demands faster restructuring

“Supply leads demand — you put the supply on the market and demand gets created.,” he said. “Over the long term we’re very bullish.”

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Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · 7d

Trump just handed $625M to Big Coal + opened millions of acres for mining. Meanwhile, utilities are STILL clinging to expensive fossil fuels. Our 5th Dirty Truth report shows the cost is falling on families. #DirtyTruthReport sc.org/dirtytruth

The Dirty Truth Report

sc.org

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Ember @ember-energy.org · 4d

NEW | Solar and wind OUTPACED global electricity demand growth in the first half of 2025, leading to a fall in fossil fuels compared to this time last year ☀️🌪️

Record solar and steady wind growth is reshaping global power as renewables OVERTAKE coal for the first time.

https://loom.ly/c-MNZSk

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Ginny Roscamp @virginiainwa.bsky.social · 9d

Sierra Club's @jessyewaxman.bsky.social talks with @inthesetimes.com about our work to push pension to stop buying new bonds issued by fossil fuel companies hoping to raise 💰💰💰 for pipelines, refineries & more.

In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 12d

Your pension could be funding the very forces undermining workers’ rights, housing, and the planet.

Rebecca Burns reports on how unions are fighting back—and how retirement savings could be reclaimed for the common good.

Financing Our Own Destruction

How workers’ pensions fuel attacks on the working class—and how to reclaim them for the common good.

inthesetimes.com

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

All In with Chris Hayes @allinwithchris.bsky.social · 10d

WATCH: "They are underwater across the board, and they know it. And that is causing them to double down in public. But it is backfiring. That is why—whether it's a shutdown, whether it's all of this—they want us to blink first. And we have too much to save," says AOC.

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Ben Cushing @bmcushing.bsky.social · 14d

Honored to join leaders from the NYC Comptroller’s Office, Ethic, & Sierra Club Foundation during #ClimateWeekNYC to discuss climate & fiduciary duty.

I shared insights from my paper on why & how investors must confront climate change as a systemic financial risk: www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 19d

Remember: If we allow ourselves to fall into fatalism, or wallow in disappointment, or become resigned to what is rather than what should be, we will lose the long game.

The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.

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Sun Day @sundayofaction.bsky.social · 20d

☀️ Sun Day has begun across almost all 50 states of the U.S. and it's already looking bright 👉 Read all about how people are taking action by @nytimes.com before finding a Sun Day event happening near YOU today: sunday.earth

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/c...

Here Comes the Sun Day

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · 22d

Climate change is the single greatest systemic risk facing our economy, and pension funds are on the front lines. Retirement savings should not prop up polluting infrastructure — they should fund investments that cut emissions, build resilience & protect nature.

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · 22d

These principles — developed alongside dozens of labor, environmental, and public interest groups — mark the first time we have clearly defined what climate investments should, and should not, look like.

Principles for Financial Institutions on Credible Investments in Climate Solutions

Sierra Club urges major investors like public pensions to address systemic climate risks and direct capital toward real-world decarbonization

www.sierraclub.org

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · 22d

Our new principles guide financial institutions like pensions on how to make credible investments in climate solutions. It goes beyond support for clean energy technologies and includes things like community resilience, green jobs & more.

Sierra Club Publishes New Guidance for Financial Institutions on Credible Investments in Climate Solutions

Principles urge major investors like public pensions to direct capital toward real-world decarbonization, community resilience, and green jobs

www.sierraclub.org

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Ben Cushing @bmcushing.bsky.social · 22d

Great coverage of the new Principles for Climate Solutions Investments, featuring comments from @sierraclub.org’s @jessyewaxman.bsky.social: www.pionline.com/rules-regula...

Sierra Club targets pension ‘portfolio greenwashing’ with new climate principles

Sierra Club and 34 groups launch new investment framework for public pensions on Sept. 18 head of New York Climate Week, urging funds to prioritize real-world decarbonization and reject offsets, LNG a...

www.pionline.com

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

jessyewaxman.bsky.social @jessyewaxman.bsky.social · 23d

🚨 BIG NEWS: Sierra Club has released new guidance for financial institutions on what constitutes credible investments in #climate solutions.

To protect savings, investments must cut emissions, support workers, protect nature & build resilient communities.

www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

Sierra Club Publishes New Guidance for Financial Institutions on Credible Investments in Climate Solutions

Principles urge major investors like public pensions to direct capital toward real-world decarbonization, community resilience, and green jobs

www.sierraclub.org

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Ben Cushing @bmcushing.bsky.social · 23d

www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

Sierra Club Publishes New Guidance for Financial Institutions on Credible Investments in Climate Solutions

Principles urge major investors like public pensions to direct capital toward real-world decarbonization, community resilience, and green jobs

www.sierraclub.org

Ben Cushing @bmcushing.bsky.social · 23d

Too often, pensions & other financial institutions make splashy "climate solutions" pledges with little transparency or credibility.

That’s why @sierraclub.org & partners just published new Principles for Climate Solutions Investments to guide what should (and shouldn't) count. 🔗👇

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · 25d

Annual shareholder meeting season might be over, but our push on major investors is only just beginning.

Join us in calling on major investors like public pensions to use their shareholder power to demand corporate climate action.

bit.ly/4gqDxYQ

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · 26d

The Sierra Club’s member-elected Board of Directors has unanimously appointed Loren Blackford as our next Executive Director, making her the first woman to lead the Sierra Club in our 133-year history!

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · Sep 4

💰 New net zero standards require the financial sector to stop funding oil & gas expansion by 2030.

Will big US banks rise to the challenge?

✍️ @jessyewaxman.bsky.social delves into the issue for @financialtimes.com @sustainableviews.bsky.social

SBTi challenges finance to prove its climate commitments are credible

Jessye Waxman is a campaign adviser for the Sierra Club’s sustainable finance campaign The choices made by financial institutions will determine whether the energy transition succeeds or stalls

www.sustainableviews.com

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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · Jul 9

Among all the big bad things happening on our planet, there's one Big Good Thing, the sudden, startling rise of solar energy.
It changes the power dynamic, in every sense of the word 'power.'
www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment

In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

www.newyorker.com

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Ginny Roscamp @virginiainwa.bsky.social · Jun 25

We can't afford to ignore the threat that the climate crisis poses to the economy and long-term investments.

@sierraclub.org applauds the Sierra Club Foundation for leading by example by moving its assets from BlackRock to more responsible asset managers.

www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

Sierra Club Foundation Leads by Example in Move from BlackRock to More Responsible Asset Managers

Move follows 3+ years of engagement between foundation, asset manager

www.sierraclub.org

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Reposted by Ben Cushing

Timothy Burke @bubbaprog.xyz · Jun 25

"GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE"

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