Stop the Money Pipeline is a left-of-center environmentalist pressure campaign aimed at cutting off lending from banks to oil pipeline projects. The campaign is run by extremist activist group 350.org and supported by a coalition of major environmentalist organizations, including the Sierra Club Foundation and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Stop the Money Pipeline was formally launched on January 10, 2020, with the stated goal of targeting “the flow of money supporting investments in oil, natural gas, and coal.” ¹ Currently, the project focuses on protesting against JP Morgan Chase Bank, insurance company Liberty Mutual Group, and investment company BlackRock. ²

Background

Stop the Money Pipeline was first announced in a joint statement by environmental organizers on January 9, 2020, preceding an event held the next day by Fire Drill Friday, a protest headlined by Hollywood actress and far-left activist Jane Fonda. ³ The statement, which included 350.org co-founder and environmentalist activist Bill McKibben, announced that “the Stop the Money Pipeline mobilization will bring together a number of existing campaigns targeting the worst offenders in each part of the financial sector.” ⁴

Liz Butler, vice president of activist group Friends of the Earth US, added, “we cannot solve the climate crisis until banks and insurance companies step up and stop financing environmental destruction.” ⁵

Environmental Activism

Fire Drill Friday Protest (2019-2020)

Since October 2019, Hollywood actress and left-wing political activist Jane Fonda has taken part in a series of weekly protests outside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Dubbed “Fire Drill Fridays,” the protests were arranged by Fonda and 350.org to push for greater efforts to combat climate change. ⁶

Fonda has been arrested multiple times during the protests. Other left-wing Hollywood actors involved in the protests included Sam Waterson, Martin Sheen, Ted Danson, and Sally Field. ⁷

The Stop the Money Pipeline campaign began at a Fire Drill Friday protest on January 10, 2020, when protesters from environmentalist groups joined with high-profile activists outside the U.S. Capitol Building. Among the activists that took part were Fonda, Hollywood actors Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Sheen, “indigenous activist” Tara Houska, and left-wing writer Naomi Klein. ⁸ During the rally, several activists, including Bill McKibben, proceeded to occupy a nearby JP Morgan Chase Bank on Pennsylvania Avenue to protest the bank’s lending to the oil and natural gas industry. Over 150 protesters were arrested during the event, including ten within the Chase Bank occupation. ⁹

Coalition Members

Stop the Money Pipeline is supported by a coalition of center-of-left environmental activist organizations and projects: ¹⁰

• 350.org (which runs the campaign)
• The Years Project
• Sierra Club Foundation
• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
• Fossil Free California
• 350 Colorado
• Beneficial State Foundation
• Friends of the Earth
• 350 Seattle
• Greenpeace
• Insure Our Future
• The Sunrise Project
• New York Communities for Change
• Oil Change International
• Rainforest Action Network
• Amazon Watch
• Transition United States
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Climate Hawks Vote
• Divest Ed
• Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network International (WECAN)
• Hip Hop Caucus
• Good Money
• Seeding Sovereignty
• Mazaska Talks
• Ginew Resistance Movement
• Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
• Protectors of the Salish Sea

Funding

Stop the Money Pipeline is a project of 350.org and as such is not a standalone nonprofit. It does not file with the IRS or report donors.

1. Tamborrino, Kelsey. “Greens Launch Campaign Targeting Fossil Fuel Divestment.” POLITICO, January 10, 2020. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-energy/2020/01/10/greens-launch-campaign-targeting-fossil-fuel-divestment-784248.
2. “Our Coalition.” Stop the Money Pipeline, Accessed January 14, 2020. https://www.stopthemoneypipeline.com/#
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8. ““Stop the Money Pipeline”: 150 Arrested at Protests Exposing Wall Street’s Link to Climate Crisis.” Democracy Now, January 13, 2020. https://www.democracynow.org/2020/1/13/jane_fonda_fire_drill_fridays_washington
9. Ali, Rasha. “Joaquin Phoenix, fresh off Golden Globes win, arrested at Jane Fonda’s climate change protest.” USA Today, January 10, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/01/10/joaquin-phoenix-arrested-jane-fonda-climate-change-protest/4431521002/?fbclid=IwAR0SviixTgjR9tFM_xNOzT7LhUxKN2UZ83KvVjNnBxwvblh1Efz1n5lpFMI
10. “Our Coalition.” Stop the Money Pipeline, Accessed January 14, 2020. https://www.stopthemoneypipeline.com/#