For Effective Climate Change Activism, Focus on Supply
To effect change, climate activists need to pursue both divestment and limiting demand for carbon emissions.
Climate activist groups protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington as oral arguments are heard in U.S. Forest Service and Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association on Feb. 24.
Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesA two-day stretch last week brought the end of three different fossil-fuel pipeline projects—a defeat for energy lobbyists. The fact that energy lobbyist-turned-Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette blames climate activists for pipeline setbacks is a clear sign: Activism works.
For years activists have focused on the supply side, with “divestment” playing a prominent role especially across college campuses. Targets have included everything from university endowments to pension funds, and investors have taken note or even been on the forefront of the movement.