In February Bloomberg Green wrote “Climate Activists Deploy New Tactics Against Wall Street/ Also: the latest on the blizzard pummeling New York City”. The new tactics being necessary because formerly woke banks have stopped groveling before climate activists due to stuff like blizzards pummeling New York City instead of heat waves. But what is the new tactic? (And why is a news outlet apparently trying to direct activism instead of reporting on it?) Well, like total revolution man or something. “‘We failed in our mission,’ says Lucie Pinson, founder and executive director of Reclaim Finance, a Paris-based nonprofit that’s made a name for itself targeting European banks and insurers over their oil, gas and coal ties. ‘Instead of fighting human-rights violations or standing up for social justice, we narrowed every issue down to climate change.’” Which seems logical if you’re obsessed with fighting climate change. But to the mindset where life is one big bad omnicause, and everything good can be had by yelling loudly enough (and often rudely enough), the logical response to finding climate didn’t work as a lever to take control of the banks is to use it to take over their customers instead. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
As Bloomberg Green wrote:
“The comments come as climate policies are summarily dismantled in the US and watered down in Europe. Meanwhile the share of voters in rich countries who say climate change is a major threat dropped markedly across the board in 2025 compared with 2022, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Jobs, inflation, war and immigration are bigger worries, polling shows.”
Now on the subject of 360˚ pivots, another activist profiled in the story, Alex Connon, whose contribution to civil and intelligent debate was to block the doors of a bank while chanting, says shaming banks by calling them dirty names seems not to have won their hearts so now he has to shame their customers into dealing with other banks:
“‘For too long we believed that if we could tarnish the reputation of financial institutions by linking them to the companies causing the climate crisis, we could get them to act,’ he said. ‘That was a mistake.’ It’s a viewpoint that’s taking hold among a growing number of climate organizations, including in Europe.”
OK. But why was it a mistake? Because most of the evidence you cited of a climate crisis turned out to be wrong, misleading or ephemeral? Because insulting people is a lousy way to win friends and influence people? Heck no.
“Against that backdrop, Connon says the US-focused campaigns he oversees – which have also targeted JPMorgan and Wells Fargo – will in future need to adopt a different tack. Instead of focusing on their reputations, he says he plans to go after banks’ revenue streams, for example by trying to persuade key corporate clients to take their business to greener competitors.”
In sort, focusing on their reputations. Brilliant.
But um if the whole death to the monsters burning up the planet thing is now met with sneers and yawns, why will it work because you insult someone else?
Oh, by the way, comrade Pinson also has a brilliant plan to use windmills to defeat Vladimir Putin or something of that sort:
“Pinson of Reclaim Finance says she’s now working on new ways to get European banks to sever ties with fossil-fuel clients, which includes framing the issue as one of national security and economic cost. Because whether you believe in climate change or not, relying on imported oil and gas “undermines Europe’s strategic autonomy,” Pinson said. And it ‘exposes us to the goodwill of counties that are not our friends.’”
True. So maybe they should rely on… hang on… it’ll come to us… uh… oh right. Domestically generated oil and gas. Lift the fracking ban. Stop subsidizing windmills. And somebody get that crank off our doorstep, willya?
