Your hard-earned money is cheating on you

Shocked at this betrayal, but we'll get through this thanks to sustainable finance solutions.

View this email in your browser Arlan Hamilton's Secret Agenda   Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, Arlan Hamilton, recently announced her (not so secret) secret agenda:  "I want to help other people gain wealth. I want us all to spend our wealth on ourselves and catalyzing others." Do you want in? Let Arlan show you how she went from homeless to making millions in under five years - totally free - here. Read: money makes the world go poo poo Estimated reading time: 3 minutes September Topic: Sustainable finance This week's module: 1. READ | 2. LISTEN | 3. ACT | 4. REFLECT Welcome back to Changeletter by Soapbox Project. I'm the author, Nivi Achanta, and I make it easy for you to fight climate change in 3 minutes every week.   What's up this week For the first time in two years, I'm ACTUALLY writing this Changeletter content ahead of time. I always say I'll plan ahead, but I never do. Until now. 🎉   When you read this, I'll be in NYC (reply if you want to meet). It's been three months since I've shattered my ankle. I've still got months or years to go before getting back to "normal" but 2021 is all about finding the joy in new normals. So here I am, on vacation!   I have a lotttttt of thoughts about air travel, vacation guilt, and more, but we'll save that convo for when I get back.   For now, let's talk about 💸responsible money management💸!   When I found out that my hard-earned money was being used to fight climate change, I was shocked. I'd never really thought about what happens to my paycheck once it hits the bank. Turns out, the biggest banks in the world are propping up — and expanding — the fossil fuel industry.   Soooo sustainable finance is September's topic. Let's start with our READ module, which is a super thorough overview of the climate harms the financial industry is causing. It's a 2019 New Yorker article by Bill McKibben, the environmentalist who started 350.org.   Reply to this email telling me what's stopping you from responsible banking/investing.(Whether you just didn't know about it, it takes too much time, it's not available in your country, etc. — anything is fair game. I'm so curious to know, and I'll reply post-vacation.)   From the Soapbox Everything below is included if you're a member of our Soapbox community.   ARTICLE | Free resources on sustainable investing from SustainFi   EVENT | 9/9, 2pm PST — Soapbox members gathering (virtual). Join our community to meet like-minded people and take action together on issues you care about! We hang out at least once a month, and we also have in-person gatherings in cities where it's safe to do so. Last week in Seattle, we did a farmers market hang and took action on toxic food packaging!   EVENT | 9/15, 5pm PST — Sustainable finance workshop. You'll learn about responsible banking, investing, and financial education with the founders of Mighty Deposits, Carbon Collective, and SustainFi, and we'll give you some time to take action (finding a new bank, etc.)   FREE COURSE | We're launching our first bite-sized sustainability course! It'll only be seven days long and take you ~20 minutes each day to complete the content and the actions. We'll cover topics like sustainable finance, corporate activism, food justice, and more. Simply click this link of a cute piglet and you'll receive the course when it's ready — no signup required since I have your email xoxo     Your bite-sized actions   Divesting from fossil fuels basically means pulling our money out of oil and gas. You can read the full article to learn more, but the best way to get caught up with divestment AND take action is to attend our sustainable finance workshop on 9/15.   Takeaways from the article "Money is the Oxygen on Which the Fire of Global Warming Burns":   We literally don't have enough money. A study found that warming the planet by 3 degrees celsius before 2100 (which we're on track for) would do 551 TRILLION $ in damage, which is more money than currently exists on the planet."   Divestment pressure works. "Funds worth more than eleven trillion dollars have divested some or all of their fossil-fuel holdings. And it has been effective: when Peabody Energy, the largest American coal company, filed for bankruptcy, in 2016, it cited divestment as one of the pressures weighing on its business." Say yes to peer pressure 😉   Divesting from fossil fuels will not break the world. Big Oil likes to tell us that if we divest, our whole economy will come crashing down, but that may not be the case. Let's look at Chase — "Fossil-fuel financing accounts for only about seven per cent of Chase's lending and underwriting". If we divested, Chase would lend to solar/wind/other renewable companies and be just fine. But oil and gas wouldn't. Hee hee. 😈   Fossil fuel investing is destructive and unprofitable. In 2019, BlackRock, an asset management firm, was the world's largest investor in coal companies and companies driving deforestation. ANDD BlackRock investors lost 90 BILLION $ over the last decade "by staying heavily investing in fossil fuels." Suckers lol We can't wake up tomorrow and stop using fossil fuels entirely, but we CAN wake up and divest! You can do it during our 9/15 workshop in an hour! The New Yorker article covers banking, asset management, and insurance in depth, and shows how handling our money responsibly could be the fastest path to a cleaner and safer world. Curious to know what you think and what's stopping you from divesting. Upcoming Lmk if you're in NY/Boston/Providence and want to meet - I'd love to hang for a bit. Next week, we'll learn about how our money works and how it's being abused oh dear oh no Copyright © 2021 Soapbox Project, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our free action plans via social media, Tech Ethics Coalition, a meeting with Nivi, or our website! Our mailing address is: Soapbox Project 415 Mission St. San Francisco, California 94105 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Choice Cut

Texas abortion ban, and the end of business travel.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 - The Day's Most Fascinating News from Dave Pell

Subscribe Store Current Share Archives Wednesday, September 1, 2021 1 CHOICE CUT For defenders of Roe v Wade and a woman's right to choose, this is no longer a drill. The long term effort to overturn Roe took a dramatic step forward as the Supreme Court remained silent on a Texas law that bans abortions after about six weeks (when many women don't know they're pregnant yet), makes no exception for rape or incest, and (the so crazy it's worked so far part) "allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone else who helps a woman obtain an abortion — including those who give a woman a ride to a clinic or provide financial assistance to obtain an abortion. Private citizens who bring these suits don't need to show any connection to those they are suing." NPR: What The Texas Abortion Ban Does — And What It Means For Other States. + NY Mag: Texas Just Got Away With Banning Abortion. Will Anyone Stop Them? "In addition to a horrifying throwback to romanticized notions of "Texas justice," this provision makes it hard to get an injunction preventing the law from taking effect. Who, exactly, is a court supposed to stop? No sheriff or attorney general will be arresting doctors or nurses (or, for that matter, moms who drive their daughters to a health clinic). And whoever might now file suit hasn't done so yet. From a legal point of view, it's not clear that there's a live controversy until someone actually does. Again, that may happen as soon as today. And the moment a court official stamps one of these ridiculous lawsuits, that's enough state action to warrant an injunction."     2 DEPLANE, DEPLANE "Chief Executive Officer Thierry Vanlancker has spent the past year watching his manufacturing head, David Prinselaar, flap his arms, madly gesticulate and seemingly talk to himself while 'visiting'' 124 plants by directing staff with high-definition augmented-reality headgear on factory floors. A task that meant crisscrossing the globe in a plane before is now done in a fraction of the time — and with no jet lag." Delta has slowed the return to business travel. But it may never fully come back. Bloomberg: Business travel as we've known it is a thing of the past. (And getting drunk on mini bottles of booze while watching Spectravision isn't nearly as fun at home.)     3 FOREVER MINEFIELD "When I hear that we could've, should've continued the so-called low-grade effort in Afghanistan at low risk to our service members, at low cost, I don't think enough people understand how much we've asked of the 1% of this country to put that uniform on." Biden made his case for ending the forever war. Here's the full speech. + The evil of the Taliban has not been overstated. But their desire to actually govern, and therefore, their need for international support, has been understated. The free world is not without leverage. Taliban cooperation included protecting Americans from possible terrorist attack at airport. And, Taliban demand US diplomats return to Kabul and have a diplomatic presence. (Again, no one should take the Taliban at their word. But they've got a country to govern and an economy to develop.) + "The fighters told her to pass along a message: They were looking for me and I needed to get in touch. If I didn't, what happened next would be my own fault." Must-read from the NYT (gift article for ND readers): The Airlifts Have Stopped, and the Taliban Are Looking for Me. + White House responds to plea of interpreter who helped rescue Biden but is still stuck in Afghanistan.     4 HAULING APART "Despite long-haulers' fight for recognition, any discussion of the pandemic still largely revolves around two extremes—good health at one end, and hospitalization or death at the other. This ignores the hinterland of disability that lies in between, where millions of people are already stuck, and where many more may end up." Ed Yong in The Atlantic: Long-Haulers Are Fighting for Their Future. "Neglecting them could make the pandemic even worse." + NYT: Another Hidden Covid Risk: Lingering Kidney Problems. + "As students and staff return to school, the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19 has caused cases, hospitalizations and death rates to soar across the country." So what's the response of Florida Gov Ron DeSantis? The Florida Department of Education is planning to withhold salaries for Broward, Alachua county boards that have issued mask mandates. (The culture wars are coming for your kids.) + Last year, Bonnaroo was canceled for the pandemic. This year, it's been canceled because of the flooding.     5 ADOPTION AGENCY "As he stood on the side of the road, police searched the vehicle, pulling nearly $87,000 in a zip-top bag from Lara's trunk and insisting a drug-sniffing dog had detected something on the cash. Police found no drugs, and Lara, 39, was charged with no crimes. But police nonetheless left with his money, calling a Drug Enforcement Administration agent to coordinate a process known as 'adoption,' which allows federal authorities to seize cash or property they suspect is connected to criminal activity without levying criminal charges." WaPo (gift article for ND readers): A former Marine was pulled over for following a truck too closely. Police took nearly $87,000 of his cash. (This is why I almost never commute with more than forty or fifty grand in cash...)     6 THE GOLDEN STATE "The day feels toxic. All those tiny pieces of ash combining to shroud Lake Tahoe, a gray miasma that warns of the megafire just eight miles from the shore. But the night. The night feels treacherous. Well after dark the Caldor fire engulfs pine trees with a crackling sound that crescendos into a roar. The flames don't burn boughs laden with needles so much as they make them disappear with a blinding flash." Teams are still working around the clock to save the Tahoe area from the Caldor fire. The NYT: One Night on the Fire Lines at Lake Tahoe. To put the magnitude of this year's fires into perpective, consider this: Caldor is only the second fire in recorded history to cross from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other. The first was the Dixie. A few weeks ago.     7 ROAD RAGE "Schmoll admits that he's given some thought to barricading the Crisman property. 'Supposedly, I could shut that road down now,' said Schmoll, who raises beef cattle. 'I have no intention of doing that. Their little girls have to get to the school bus. But if I could close that down for Andy and Renee, I would.'" A Rural Minnesota family may be trapped as town declares their access road doesn't exist. (Even regular NextDoor visitors will find this story shocking.)     8 TENNIS? ANYONE?! "If Blackman is right, and I believe he is, then perhaps the true villain behind the downfall of pro men's tennis in the United States is Otto von Habsburg. Aka, the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary. Aka, former head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Aka, deceased sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece. That piece of shit." (Either that, or it's the big three.) Whatever it is, America men are nowhere to be found in the last weekend of major tennis tournaments, and that's a trend that has been going on for a long time. A problem this intractable needs an excellent journalist to cover it. Which brings us to Rosecrans Baldwin in GQ: Where's the Next Andy Roddick? (I planned to end this blurb with my prediction that Sebastian Korda - son of Peter, brother of golfers Nelly and Jessica - could be the next US male tennis star. So I did a quick check on how his US Open is going so far. He retired mid-match during the first round after he "called for the trainer and complained that he was feeling ill, at one stage asking for a bucket so he could throw up.")     9 SHOT CLOCK "They were late, they may have had a logical reason for being late, and therefore we allowed them to compete and look at the facts of the matter afterward." Malaysian shot putter stripped of Paralympic gold after arriving three minutes late.     10 BOTTOM OF THE NEWS "Another visitor to Hawaii has been arrested for allegedly using a fake vaccine card to fly to the islands." What tipped off authorities? The spelling of her vaccine: Maderna. + Your dog may know if you've done something on purpose, or just screwed up. (Your cat for sure doesn't care.) + When it comes to Limbo Roller Skating, always bet the spread. + This edition had it all. Analysis, humor, memorable stories, personal asides, and an urgent call for a barf bucket. That's basically what my book is like. Order Please Scream Inside Your Heart: Breaking News and Nervous Breakdowns in the Year that Wouldn't End, and please share my landing page on social media.     Thanks, Dave Pell Managing Editor, Internet Subscribe Store Current Share Archives NextDraft 600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 You are receiving this because you signed up for Dave Pell's Next Draft newsletter. If you'd like to stop receiving these emails, simply unsubscribe. No hard feelings. If this email isn't looking quite right, you can view it in your browser. Did some awesome person forward this issue to you? Subscribe at NextDraft and get it in your own inbox.