They Can’t Build It If It’s Not Funded
This week has been full of controversial news. Today’s announcement by the Department of Defense notifying Congress that it has granted approval and easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to be built (despite incredible protests) provides yet another moment for us to get up off our assets and become activist investors.
As it turns out, the current administration and the Department of Defense can approve this project, though they are currently relying on our big banks to fund it. Those of us who are concerned about climate change, want to see more renewable energy sources, and want to keep our remaining fossil fuels in the ground, as well as those of us who are concerned about our Native Americans (specifically the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), their sacred burial grounds and water rights, can actually vote with our dollars and our bank deposits. Impact Investing (the act of investing for more than a financial return, of consciously using each of our dollars in alignment with our values) can actually be used as a form of activism as well as resistance, in addition to a smart investment strategy.
As I wrote about earlier this year, divesting from the fossil fuel industry is growing in popularity — for ethical as well as financial reasons. Today, I want to highlight the role of our bank deposits in this process. Yes Magazine recently published a list of the 17 banks currently funding the pipeline. If we all move our cash and deposits out of these banks, we can take the wind out of this pipeline project. By doing so, we can also send the message that we no longer accept and will not participate in “business as usual.” The other exciting part about moving away from banks funding environmentally precarious projects is that we can then choose to re-invest that money into banks and local institutions that will loan those dollars out to the people, projects and things we care about. For those of you with money in one of these pipeline funding banks, I’ll be curious to hear from you and what you decide to do.
#Whereisyourcash and will you #alignitwithyourvalues?
