Thread by @billmckibben

The New Yorker has been publishing for 94 years, and I believe this is by far the longest 'Comment'--opinion piece--they've ever run. Partly because I'm longwinded, but mostly because it offers a newish take on the greatest crisis we've ever faced
newyorker.com/news/daily-com…

It begins with the small and noble band of activists who have taken on the big banks, the insurance companies, and the asset-managers. These amoral enterprises make sure that the fossil fuel industry has the money it needs to keep building new stuff

And it argues that it's every bit as important to pressure these financial institutions as it is to pressure govts--in part because, if they wanted to, the financial community could act fast--in some cases it would be a matter of hours

What would happen if Chase suddenly stopped lending for new oil projects? Or Blackrock started screening oil stocks out of its passive index funds? Or the few big insurers said no more underwriting for fossil fuel projects?

By my reporting, you'd see enormous changes almost instantly, as markets started absorbing the news that the turn had finally come. We have to keep pressing for a Green New Deal, but Congresses move slowly. So we should press for an end to immoral energy finance too.

Anyway,. if it were up to me this would turn into an ever more massive and coordinated campaign, a complement to the vast and successful fossil fuel divestment campaign. I hope people will read and share the piece and come up with ideas

And I hope the basic idea will enter the information bloodstream: these financial institutions are making money by supporting things we now know are killing our chances for survival. It's hard to imagine a worse thing they could be doing on our planet right now.

Many thanks to the @NewYorker for publishing a fairly subversive essay--and to all who worked to edit and fact-check it. I may not write as elegantly as Mr. Franzen, but I'm convinced this is a more promising way forward.