have no illusions about the pace of change

Steven Welzer
2 min readJan 4, 2025

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. . . it can’t and won’t happen quickly.

It will happen slowly.

Meanwhile, crisis is baked in the cake.

The extent of overshoot is breathtakingly extreme . . . way beyond what’s commonly considered.

So it will take a thousand years to achieve ecological and social sustainability.

I am optimistic that it will happen. Over a span of 40 generations. Step by tiny incremental step.

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https://mishtalk.com/economics/a-mass-exodus-of-big-banks-from-the-net-zero-bank-climate-alliance/

The Net-Zero Bank Alliance Has Collapsed.

The climate policy retreat is accelerating as Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley this week joined an exodus from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. The NZBA alliance is part of the United Nations “Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero” effort to conscript private capital to drive the left’s climate goals. It was spearheaded by former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in 2021. That was the year of peak climate arm-twisting.

Automakers are slowing their electric vehicle production plans. Utilities are extending the lifespan of coal plants to keep the lights on. Off-shore wind projects are being canceled because they aren’t economic. Even California last month indefinitely delayed its plan to shut down a giant natural gas storage facility.

State Attorneys General have threatened banks and asset managers with antitrust lawsuits for participating in such outfits as NZBA. The bank members are de facto committing to divest from fossil fuels by 2050, which may violate their fiduciary duty to customers and investors. Many are deciding the potential legal headaches aren’t worth it.

Vanguard in late 2022 pulled out of the Net Zero Asset Managers pledge. JPMorgan Asset Management, BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors last February retreated from a Climate Action 100+ compact. Now the big banks are joining Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, which quit the alliance last month. Net zero is becoming a much smaller club.

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Steven Welzer
Steven Welzer

Written by Steven Welzer

A Green Party activist, Steve was an original co-editor of DSA’s “Ecosocialist Review.” He now serves on the Editorial Board of the New Green Horizons webzine.

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