Ben Cushing
@bmcushing.bsky.social
👋 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
📍 DC resident, Oakland raised
💭 Thinking a lot about climate, finance, politics, & the NBA
Pinned
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...
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...
Reposted by Ben Cushing
So my ask: commit to helping Sierra Club or any other organization that is standing with us in this struggle. I just hosted a house party for Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program, one of the organization's crown jewels. Give money, take action, do something, but don't take the bait. 8/
Campaign Form
act.sierraclub.org
November 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
So my ask: commit to helping Sierra Club or any other organization that is standing with us in this struggle. I just hosted a house party for Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program, one of the organization's crown jewels. Give money, take action, do something, but don't take the bait. 8/
If you read that @nytimes.com hit piece about @sierraclub.org and thought it didn’t quite smell right, you were right...
Here’s our Executive Director, Loren Blackford, setting the record straight — starting with what it got wrong about the organization 👇
www.sierraclub.org/articles/202...
Here’s our Executive Director, Loren Blackford, setting the record straight — starting with what it got wrong about the organization 👇
www.sierraclub.org/articles/202...
November 12, 2025 at 4:48 PM
If you read that @nytimes.com hit piece about @sierraclub.org and thought it didn’t quite smell right, you were right...
Here’s our Executive Director, Loren Blackford, setting the record straight — starting with what it got wrong about the organization 👇
www.sierraclub.org/articles/202...
Here’s our Executive Director, Loren Blackford, setting the record straight — starting with what it got wrong about the organization 👇
www.sierraclub.org/articles/202...
Reposted by Ben Cushing
"Saying that the Sierra Club’s problems are all *because of woke* is both entirely too trite and entirely incorrect."
Read the whole thing for great insights about organizing, generational changes, this terrible moment & implicitly, WTF is going on at the NYTimes.
Read the whole thing for great insights about organizing, generational changes, this terrible moment & implicitly, WTF is going on at the NYTimes.
There was an NYT piece last week about the Sierra Club, and (by extension) the current state of the climate movement.
I think they got three big things wrong.
davekarpf.substack.com/p/every-gene...
I think they got three big things wrong.
davekarpf.substack.com/p/every-gene...
Every generation gets to recreate the environmental movement to suit its own purposes
Some big-picture reactions to a recent NYT piece
davekarpf.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:43 PM
"Saying that the Sierra Club’s problems are all *because of woke* is both entirely too trite and entirely incorrect."
Read the whole thing for great insights about organizing, generational changes, this terrible moment & implicitly, WTF is going on at the NYTimes.
Read the whole thing for great insights about organizing, generational changes, this terrible moment & implicitly, WTF is going on at the NYTimes.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
The Sierra Club is always evolving, but our mission stays constant: ensure everyone in this country has access to clean air, clean water, affordable clean energy, and public lands.
We’re focused on the work ahead. Onwards, together.
We’re focused on the work ahead. Onwards, together.
November 10, 2025 at 11:08 PM
The Sierra Club is always evolving, but our mission stays constant: ensure everyone in this country has access to clean air, clean water, affordable clean energy, and public lands.
We’re focused on the work ahead. Onwards, together.
We’re focused on the work ahead. Onwards, together.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
This weekend, the New York Times ran a story claiming Sierra Club’s values have diluted our mission. They couldn’t be more wrong. The list of their errors is too long for one social post, but we go over some examples in these slides.
November 10, 2025 at 11:08 PM
This weekend, the New York Times ran a story claiming Sierra Club’s values have diluted our mission. They couldn’t be more wrong. The list of their errors is too long for one social post, but we go over some examples in these slides.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
How should state & local pensions respond to the GenAI / data center boom, arguably the largest private infrastructure project in world history? In @forbes.com, I argue they have a fiduciary duty to assess & mitigate systemic risks arising from data center contributions to rising GHG emissions.
State And Local Pensions Must Confront AI’s Systemic Risks
Data centers are generating systemic climate risks to portfolios of state and local pensions. Pensions must engage with the tech industry to reduce these risks.
www.forbes.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:17 PM
How should state & local pensions respond to the GenAI / data center boom, arguably the largest private infrastructure project in world history? In @forbes.com, I argue they have a fiduciary duty to assess & mitigate systemic risks arising from data center contributions to rising GHG emissions.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
🚨 We just launched an interactive tracker analyzing the proxy voting guidelines of major U.S. public pensions.
🔍Take a look & learn how these influential investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
🔍Take a look & learn how these influential investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
New Interactive Tracker Analyzes Proxy Voting Guidelines of Major U.S. Public Pensions
Information will be updated regularly as pensions change their guidelines
www.sierraclub.org
October 21, 2025 at 5:47 PM
🚨 We just launched an interactive tracker analyzing the proxy voting guidelines of major U.S. public pensions.
🔍Take a look & learn how these influential investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
🔍Take a look & learn how these influential investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
Elites collapsed and capitulated. Regular people never did. #NoKings
Remember back in January when all these sage politics-knowers were writing about how there had been a vibe shift and now the resistance was over?
lol. lmao.
lol. lmao.
October 18, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Elites collapsed and capitulated. Regular people never did. #NoKings
Reposted by Ben Cushing
After a week of ridiculous Republican smears and Trump claiming that “very few people are going to be there,” you just made history. #NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 9:57 PM
After a week of ridiculous Republican smears and Trump claiming that “very few people are going to be there,” you just made history. #NoKings
Reposted by Ben Cushing
WOW! Protesters created a HUGE human sign on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach reading “No Kings YES on 50” to support California’s Prop 50 and stand up against Donald Trump’s fascist regime
October 18, 2025 at 7:53 PM
WOW! Protesters created a HUGE human sign on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach reading “No Kings YES on 50” to support California’s Prop 50 and stand up against Donald Trump’s fascist regime
US banking regulators just withdrew guidance from 2 years ago on how big banks should manage climate risks.
The science hasn’t changed & the risks have only grown. The only difference is who’s in the White House.
So much for the Fed’s vaunted “independence” from politics.
The science hasn’t changed & the risks have only grown. The only difference is who’s in the White House.
So much for the Fed’s vaunted “independence” from politics.
@federalreserve.gov, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announce withdrawal of principles for climate-related financial risk management: www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/p...
Agencies announce withdrawal of principles for climate-related financial risk management
The federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the withdrawal of interagency Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial
www.federalreserve.gov
October 17, 2025 at 10:31 PM
US banking regulators just withdrew guidance from 2 years ago on how big banks should manage climate risks.
The science hasn’t changed & the risks have only grown. The only difference is who’s in the White House.
So much for the Fed’s vaunted “independence” from politics.
The science hasn’t changed & the risks have only grown. The only difference is who’s in the White House.
So much for the Fed’s vaunted “independence” from politics.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
🚨 @sierraclub.org just launched an interactive tracker analyzing the proxy voting guidelines of major U.S. public pensions.
🔍Take a look & learn how these important investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...
🔍Take a look & learn how these important investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...
New Interactive Tracker Analyzes Proxy Voting Guidelines of Major U.S. Public Pensions
Information will be updated regularly as pensions change their guidelines
www.sierraclub.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:13 PM
🚨 @sierraclub.org just launched an interactive tracker analyzing the proxy voting guidelines of major U.S. public pensions.
🔍Take a look & learn how these important investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...
🔍Take a look & learn how these important investors decide where to cast their votes on shareholder proposals at major corporations.
www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...
"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
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
October 10, 2025 at 5:31 PM
"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
Important piece on @financialtimes.com: on.ft.com/4h8q20e
Reposted by Ben Cushing
"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...
@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
October 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM
"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...
@rebeccaburns.bsky.social on how to reclaim pensions for the common good.
inthesetimes.com/article/fina...
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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...
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...
October 9, 2025 at 10:54 AM
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...
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...
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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
October 3, 2025 at 8:32 PM
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
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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
Record solar and steady wind growth is reshaping global power as renewables OVERTAKE coal for the first time.
https://loom.ly/c-MNZSk
October 7, 2025 at 8:01 AM
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
Record solar and steady wind growth is reshaping global power as renewables OVERTAKE coal for the first time.
https://loom.ly/c-MNZSk
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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.
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.
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
October 1, 2025 at 10:30 PM
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.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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.
October 1, 2025 at 1:03 AM
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.
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...
I shared insights from my paper on why & how investors must confront climate change as a systemic financial risk: www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...
September 27, 2025 at 4:41 PM
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...
I shared insights from my paper on why & how investors must confront climate change as a systemic financial risk: www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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.
The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.
September 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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.
The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
☀️ 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...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/c...
Here Comes the Sun Day
www.nytimes.com
September 21, 2025 at 3:23 PM
☀️ 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...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/c...
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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.
September 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
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.
Reposted by Ben Cushing
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
September 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
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.