Rev. Yearwood in NYT: Follow the Money

Protestors, including Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon, outside of a Chase Bank in Washington, D.C., where environmental activists participated in a sit-in to protest the bank’s fossil fuel investments. Photo credit: Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times

Pace e Bene board member Rev. Lennox Yearwood—featured at this year’s CNV National Conference—is speaking out with 350.org founder Bill McKibben on big actions against the financial backers of climate change. Instead of putting all of the pressure on individuals to change while massive corporations continue to create and promote policies and practices that damage our planet, Rev. Yearwood and McKibben “want people to understand that the money inside the vaults of banks like Chase is driving the climate crisis. Cutting off that flow of cash may be the single quickest step we can take to rein in the fossil fuel industry and slow the rapid warming of the earth.”

Targeting banks shows organizers’ willingness not only to follow the money to its roots, but also to Stop the Money Pipeline that funds further climate destruction.

So last Friday, a dozen protesters were arrested inside a Chase bank in Washington DC, including Rev. Yearwood and McKibben who then wrote this opinion piece for the New York Times. This action at the bank followed up another Fire Drill Friday — a protest organized by Jane Fonda to bring attention to the climate crisis. Last week Joaquin Phoenix and Campaign Nonviolence National Conference speaker Martin Sheen were in attendance and also arrested at Fire Drill Friday, bringing as much attention as possible to the need to make change. Check out this CNN article about the actions in DC, and consider joining us in Albuquerque in August to get more involved at the National Conference.