Faith-based environmental groups take on fossil fuels as 'a sacred duty'
EPA Administrator Michael Regan talks with Brenda Bryant, left, and other members of the group Rise St. James, as he tours a neighborhood next to the Nu Star Energy oil storage tanks, in St. James Parish, La., on Nov. 16, 2021. Credit: AP/Gerald Herbert
(RNS) — In mid-September, Val Smith, chief sustainability officer at Citigroup, one of the United States’ Big Four of banking, met with four religious environmental activists to discuss the company’s record on fossil fuel investment.
In 2021, Citi had pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but according to reports by independent financial researchers and environmental watchdog groups, the bank has become the second-largest funder of oil, coal and gas projects in the world.
“(We) asked Citi what its justification was for continued fossil fuel expansion, and they didn’t have an answer,” said Rabbi Jacob Siegel, climate adviser for Dayenu, a 4-year-old Jewish organization focused on addressing the climate crisis, and one of the four clergy at the Sept. 18 meeting.
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