A debate has erupted in New York between one of the city’s most high-profile climate groups and one of its most well-known politicians.
For the last two years, New York Communities for Change (NYCC) has campaigned to get Comptroller Brad Lander to move the city’s $300 billion pension funds away from BlackRock and other asset managers fueling the climate crisis.
On Earth Day, it appeared that NYCC had notched a huge win: standing alongside NYCC members, Lander announced that he would require the City’s asset managers to submit climate plans to his office – and if those plans didn’t meet the grade, they would lose business with New York’s massive pension funds.
Finally, this was the kind of leadership we need. After years of right-wing politicians weaponizing government funds on behalf of the fossil fuel industry, we’ve been crying out for elected financial officers who will fight back. And it appeared Brad Lander was going to be that guy.
Unfortunately, with only a few months left in office, Lander has yet to prove he can follow through on the promises he made on Earth Day.
And so, starting a few weeks ago, NYCC and Planet Over Profit began to protest Lander again, disrupting his speeches at the New York Law School and City Hall. Lander did not take kindly to it.
Last week, he published an angry response to the protests. He didn’t pull any punches, writing: “New York Communities for Change are acting in a bad-faith, counterproductive way, with ad hominem attacks, disrupting the events of other nonprofits, unions, and community groups.”
Also in the piece, Lander outlined the climate actions he has taken while in office, including advancing the fossil fuel divestment commitment that was passed by his predecessor, Scott Stringer, and passing the city’s pension funds’ Net Zero by 2040 plan.
What Lander failed to mention however, was that long before they launched a public campaign to get him to divest New York’s money from BlackRock, NYCC staff quietly and politely asked Lander to take this important step. Between 2021 and 2023, NYCC met with Lander’s office at least a dozen times, urging him to use the city’s pension funds to push BlackRock and other asset managers to address the climate crisis.
Only after lobbying Lander for more than a year without result did NYCC set his office a deadline for action.
On October 17th 2023, there was a meeting between Comptroller Lander and senior NYCC staff. As a supporter of NYCCs efforts, I also joined the meeting. In that meeting, Comptroller Lander told us flat out that he would not move the city’s money away from BlackRock. “It can’t be done,” he told us, basically.
It was only after that meeting that NYCC launched their public campaign. Over the following two years, they organized weekly flyering shifts, pushed out petitions and social media campaigns, and yes, they disrupted some of Lander’s speaking engagements. But let’s be crystal clear: it was only because of this campaign that Lander made the Earth Day announcement.
Following the announcement, NYCC leaders were quick to celebrate Lander’s leadership. When their climate director, Pete Sikora, joined our bi-monthly coalition call to update us on the win, he was gracious: “Lander is the one who deserves all the credit,” he told a group of about forty climate campaigners. “He’s the one that’s doing the thing.”
Things only started to sour between NYCC and Lander again when he started to miss key deadlines. “He told us that he was going to get this done by September,” said Sikora. “But he missed that deadline and he also still hasn’t followed through on the promises he made to divest from private equity, so we made the decision to start pushing him on it again.”
A lot of progressives get queasy when it comes to pushing our own in office, but NYCC is right to hold Lander to his word. It is not a campaigner’s job to make friends with elected officials; it’s our job to push them to act and hold them accountable to the promises they make. We’re lucky to have groups like NYCC that understand that.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Brad Lander has done a lot of good in his time in the Comptroller’s office, and he deserves significant credit for his stances against ICE and Islamophobia in recent months. But by attacking NYCC, he’s got this one badly wrong.
But don’t worry. If Lander delivers on his promise to get the city’s pension funds to divest from BlackRock before he leaves office, I’m sure all will be forgiven. Indeed, I’d be willing to bet that NYCC will be among those applauding him the loudest.
In Solidarity
– Alec Connon, Stop the Money Pipeline coalition director
Other News & Updates from the Coalition
– Boycott T-Mobile
In less than two weeks, thousands of us will be canceling our T-Mobile contracts, owing to its support of the Trump Administration and far-right extremists like Elon Musk. Join the boycott here! (And learn more about the campaign here.)
– Insure our Communities, Not Fossil Fuels
In New York, our staff are working with a broad coalition to support what would be a game-changing piece of state legislation. Among other things, the Insure our Communities Act would force insurance companies to stop insuring and investing in new fossil fuel projects and it would provide critical consumer protections for climate vulnerable communities, which insurance companies are abandoning en-masse.
The Insure our Communities New York campaign kicks off in earnest with a Town Hall in Manhattan. Co-sponsors include NYCC, Planet Over Profit, Third Act Upstate NY, and Indivisible Brooklyn. If you’re in New York, you can join us here.
– Stopping Elon Musk’s Trillion Dollar Pay Day
On Thursday, investors will vote on whether or not to approve a pay packet for Elon Musk that could be worth up to $1 trillion. But if enough shareholders reject the proposal, we can stop the world’s most famous hate monger’s scandalous pay packet from moving forward.
You can use this very handy tool to send an email to your State Treasurer and your own retirement fund to demand that they vote against Musk.
– Climate Organizers for Labor Action
To show Wells Fargo there are real consequences for dropping its climate targets, climate activists are spreading union literature at Wells Fargo branches. We’re already closing in on conversations with workers at 100+ branches. If you’re interested in helping out, reach out to Sarah at sarahlasoff@stopthemoneypipeline.com.
Next year, we’re organizing support committees in cities with unionized branches to help Wells Fargo workers win their first contract. Check out this form to see if you live in a city with a unionized Wells Fargo branch.
– Bank Financing for Amazon Oil and Gas
New financial data by Stand.earth shows that, in the lead up to COP30 in Brazil, banks have added $2 billion of direct financing for destructive Amazon oil and gas. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are among the worst offenders; French bank, BNP Paribas, and the UK bank, HSBC, deserve credit for adopting policies that led to reductions in Amazon oil and gas financing. Full report here.
– Principles for Climate Solutions Investments
Our friends at the Sierra Club have published new guidance for financial institutions on what constitutes credible climate solutions investing. The “Principles for Climate Solutions Investments” offer a clear framework for investors to distinguish between real climate solutions and greenwashing – and you can check them out here.
– Divest OR strikes again!
The amazing coalition over at Divest OR, the group that won coal divestment in 2024, recently released two new reports, as they continue to watchdog the nearly $100 billion state pension’s net zero commitment – a commitment that they also helped win. Check out their great work here.