Ben Cushing

Rejection of Texas law blacklisting 'woke' BlackRock could challenge anti-ESG laws in other states A Texas judge's move to strike down a state law blacklisting "woke" financial firms, including BlackRock and HSBC, that used environmental, social or governance factors in investment decisions will likely drive a broader push to repeal so-called "anti-ESG" laws in other states, analysts said.

Rejection of Texas law blacklisting 'woke' BlackRock could challenge anti-ESG laws in other states reut.rs/4bG88kO

Huge. Laws like this were designed to punish investors for taking basic steps to address climate risk.

@sierraclub.org statement: www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

(Also worth noting: the firms targeted were never actually “boycotting” fossil fuels—that was political misinformation all along.)

A Billionaire’s Surrender Bezos is not trying to save The Washington Post. He’s trying to survive Donald Trump.

For those of you who:

* Feel enraged to watch billionaires destroy important newsrooms

and

* Recall vaguely that Jeff Bezos was once considered a courageous owner who fortified the Washington Post

I recommend this piece by the Post's former fact-checker
glennkessler.substack.com/p/a-billiona...

Short-term investor pressure is driving companies to ditch climate plans, even though climate risk threatens long-term portfolios and the entire economy.

Great letter from @bmcushing.bsky.social @ @sierraclub.org:

www.ft.com/content/e100...

Tell the Senate: Not a penny more for ICE brutality | Indivisible

TODAY: The Senate is expected to hold its first procedural vote on the DHS funding bill — and it can’t pass without Democratic votes.

We need to flood the Senate with calls demanding Democrats hold the line and vote NO on giving more money to the regime’s death squads.

Small clarification: the headline that appears was written by the FT, not me. My submitted headline was "Investors should not conflate polluters’ interests with their own" — which better reflects the argument in the letter itself. Grateful nonetheless to have it published.

My letter on the @financialtimes.com story on BP/Shell’s climate rollbacks is now published.

The key takeaway: most investors should recognize that the interests of major polluters are often at odds with their own long-term portfolio interests—and should act accordingly.

www.ft.com/content/e100...

Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs. The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.

tomorrow, StandWithMinnesota.com will hit a million site visits and over 650,000 unique visitors.

i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare.

thank you. thank you.

I don't know how to do this But I'm going to keep doing it anyway.

Wrote myself a pep talk to get back to work tomorrow. It helped me. Hope it helps you.

California pension @calpers.bsky.social invested $60B in 'climate solutions'. So why does that include fossil fuels? 

As the largest U.S. public pension, what CalPERS does matters, writes Allie Lindstrom & Jakob Evans for @calmatters.org.

calmatters.org/commentary/2...

New Report: Most U.S. Public Pensions Lag on Investing in Climate Solutions Needed to Protect Retirement Savings Only 4 of 30 pensions earn ‘strong’ scores for strategies to invest in climate solutions

🚨 Our new scorecard reveals U.S. public pensions are lagging on investing in climate solutions like clean energy & resilience infrastructure, despite knowing that climate change massively threatens millions of public sector workers' retirement savings.

Sierra Club report highlights 5 public pensions in US with climate-related investment targets.

@bmcushing.bsky.social: “Climate change is undermining the financial security of workers and retirees, and threatening the long-term performance of the diversified portfolios that pensions depend on." New @sierraclub.org report highlights the handful of US pensions taking climate seriously.

How are public pension managers addressing climate risks in their investments? New @sierraclub.org report rates different funds on their approaches to these critical issues. @jessyewaxman.bsky.social @bmcushing.bsky.social

The Climate Solutions Gap: An Assessment of U.S. Public Pensions’ Investment Strategies

📊🌍 NEW Sierra Club report: How are U.S. public pensions managing climate risk through their investments—and are they directing capital to credible #climate solutions? This thread breaks down the key findings. 🧵👇
Read: www.sierraclub.org/reports/sust...

US public pension funds falling short on climate risk, say NGOs Two new reports suggest funds are lagging on systematic integration of climate considerations and climate solutions portfolios.

Coverage from Responsible Investor of the new scorecard: www.responsible-investor.com/us-public-pe...

Report: most US public pensions fail to invest in climate solutions Trump climate hostility is no excuse for pensions to evade duty to protect retirement savings from risks, says environmental group.

Coverage from @greencb.bsky.social of the new scorecard: greencentralbanking.com/2026/01/22/r...

US pensions lagging on climate investments Report warns that weak action leaves retirement savings exposed to mounting climate risks US public pension funds are failing to invest in climate solutions, a study by the non-profit Sierra Club, pub...

Coverage from @sustainableviews.bsky.social of the new scorecard: www.sustainableviews.com/us-pensions-...

Leaders and laggards: why climate strategies differ across US public pension funds Against the backdrop of growing political backlash against climate ambitions, climate strategies and targets at US public pension schemes are diverging

Coverage from @netzeroinvestor.net of the new scorecard: www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

US Pensions Lack Strong Climate Strategies, Sierra Club Says Only five funds had environmental investment targets in place at the end of last year, according to the study.

Early coverage of the new @sierraclub.org scorecard, starting with @bloomberg.com—which includes commentary from the New York City Comptroller, the New York State Comptroller, and the Oregon State Treasurer: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New Report: Most U.S. Public Pensions Lag on Investing in Climate Solutions Needed to Protect Retirement Savings Only 4 of 30 pensions earn ‘strong’ scores for strategies to invest in climate solutions

"While some US public pensions are beginning to address how climate change impacts portfolio performance, most still rely on high-level commitments or inadequate metrics that do little to drive emissions reductions in the real world" -@jessyewaxman.bsky.social www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

The Climate Solutions Gap: An Assessment of U.S. Public Pensions’ Investment Strategies

Hot off the presses: @sierraclub.org scorecard on how major US public pensions approach climate-solutions investing.

Only 4 of 30 earned "strong" scores—despite growing recognition of the threat climate change poses to long-term portfolios and the broader economy.
www.sierraclub.org/reports/sust...

Empire Wind Project Can Resume Construction, Judge Rules A federal judge said the Empire Wind project off Long Island would suffer “irreparable harm” if the Trump administration continued to hold up work.

President Trump’s attempts to torpedo offshore wind farms suffered a second blow this week when a federal judge ruled on Thursday that construction for the $5 billion Empire Wind project off Long Island could resume.

An advance look at Barry Blitt’s “Guzzler,” the cover for next week’s issue. #NewYorkerCovers

Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"

The invasion of Venezuela has nothing to do with American security. Venezuela is not a security threat to the U.S..

This is about making Trump's oil industry and Wall Street friends rich. Trump's foreign policy - the Middle East, Russia, Venezuela - is fundamentally corrupt.

Let's not forget that Trump just pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández - ex-Honduras president who backed a coup, committed election fraud, violently repressed activists, lawyers, Indigenous people, youth etc - and was entenced to 35 years by an American jury for trafficking drugs and weapons into the US