How can the Federal Reserve impact climate?

There are many things the Fed can do to stop or disrupt the flow of money from large banks to fossil fuel projects. They have the legal authority to set limits for major banks on financing fossil fuels and can make lending to fossil fuel projects more costly.

They also have the power to make funding available to overhaul our energy system and dramatically shift our transportation and buildings infrastructure. We know this will take a massive investment of resources, the likes of which we haven’t seen since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal economic reforms in the 1930s.

Historically, the Fed is quick to dump billions into the Wall Street credit markets during moments deemed “emergencies.” Imagine instead if the Fed provided local governments, tribes, and territories access to funds to rebuild our economy and provide millions of good paying, union jobs.

Imagine a Federal Reserve System that worked to build a stable, just, and equitable carbon free economy.

Why would they do this?

If the goal of the Fed is to manage “risk” to our economy, there is no greater threat than planetary collapse.