 We are here today just really to say the banks that are funding fossil fuel expansion, billions of dollars since the Paris Climate Accords have to stop that funding for the sake of our planet, for the sake of our lives and our children's lives. Third Act is an organization of people over 60 years old who are working for climate and democracy, and that's why we're out on the street today. And this is just one step in a much bigger process. We are going to be pushing in many other ways to get bigger organizations with more money than we have in our own pockets to stop putting their money in banks like Chase at fund fossil fuel expansion. So Third Act in Burlington, who's the first person that brought it up or are you a growing organization or how long have you been? We've been going for about a year and a half and it's definitely growing. We had maybe 100 people last summer and now we're up to almost 400 people throughout Vermont. It's all over Vermont and we are a working group of the National Third Act which there are 100 events like this happening all around the country today. So this is one of many events and each one is different. Some people are in rocking chairs. We've got a marching band, a piccolo and a sousaphone today. And yeah, we're going to have a skit and we're going to have a card cutting ceremony with oversized scissors. We're going to cut those credit cards. I have my here in my pocket. Oh, I hope I didn't lose it. I've canceled my chase card. I've had it for many years and I'm cutting it up today. I've canceled it because I don't want my money going to a bank that's funding climate destruction. That's what I say. Third Act was started by Bill McGibbon. You can see a short version of his speech on PBS. Please line up for a breast. Four people in a row. Please introduce yourselves to each other. And Laurel Green will start the march with a song. All right. So move yourselves down that way a little bit. I need my piccolo player to give me a note. Catherine will be leading the march. Okay. If you've got a song sheet from the information sheet, information table, you have parody words for when the saints go marching in. So we're going to start closer like this. Okay. How's that? Better? Okay. There's a parody of when the saints go marching in. We're going to put the words when the banks go fossil free. We're protesting dirty banks that use fossil fuels. We're trying to get them to divest from fossil fuels. You have a big sign. She can't show the guy. There we go. That's a good one. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, just a pet nap. One half hour and one thing. So. Okay. So yeah, just a pet nap. One half hour and one thing. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. So. Okay. and democracy. I'm also a member of the Vermont Working Group of Third Act and I'm here with many other Third Act Vermonters and we welcome you here today the second day of spring. It has given us a good excuse to take a break from cabin fever and get together for action today. Many great allies are collaborating with Third Act Vermont to make this day a success. The Perg Sunrise Movement Chittenden Youth Lobby Sierra Club 350 Vermont and Vermont Interfaith Power and Light and every individual who's concerned about our future that has joined us today and the event in Vermont today is part of something much bigger. There are a hundred events happening like this around the nation today. Collected over 17,000 pledges from people across America. We have pledged to move our money out of the four biggest banks that continue to fund the dirty fossil fuel industry. Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Chase Bank. Because these four dirty banks haven't moved their investments, their trillion dollar of investments out of fossil fuels, over 17,000 people are moving their money out of their banks. Today, third actors across the U.S. are showing up at the four big dirty banks in over a hundred cities. With one voice we're saying cut out funding fossil fuels or we'll cut our ties with you. New data make it clear that these dirty banks are using your money to fund the climate crisis in a big way. If a person has $125,000 in one of these bad banks, their cash goes to funding fossil fuel expansion and would create more carbon emissions than an American family creates in an entire year. In other words, your bank account may be the largest part of your carbon footprint. Today, we are making visible this connection between cash and carbon, the connection between how the dirty banks use our money to create carbon pollution because those banks fund fossil fuel expansion for their short-term profit. We need people of all ages and incomes to participate and send a strong message to the banks. Chase, because you didn't move money out of fossil fuels, we will move our money out of your bank. The program for today will have a short song, another song, and hope you'll all will join it. Then there will be a short keynote speech and a skit that we have practiced about people reclaiming our power related to bad banks and good banks. We will have a ceremony for everyone who is ready to cut up their chase credit cards because the bank has not cut its ties with big oil. If you're ready to cut your ties with Citibank, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo, you're welcome to cut those credit cards up today too. We will take a group picture and then those who want to may stay and sing some more. This is a day for working together to create the future we want. Thank you for taking action with us today and let's welcome our keynote speaker Laurel Green, Third Act Vermont Co-Facilitator. These serious banking issues to make you want to have a good joke. There's an old one that I really like. I'm a bank. Give a minute. Now today I'm thinking about Jamie Dimon, P. Morgan Chase. He's a billionaire. He said this, stop a new oil and gas fund view of the future. Jamie Dimon and his buddies, the other gurus at the dirty for their short-term profit. Chase is making a killing. So as the joke says, give the man a bank and he'll rob everyone. Jamie Dimon's future includes more fossil fuel, more fossil fuel expansion, which feeds the climate crisis and causes more destruction. We want a different future, a future that is in the ending of the climate emergency, the future that's a clean energy security, a future that's meeting the basic needs of people in Vermont and around the world. We want a thriving planet for our future. Climate emergency, when it comes to extreme heat, we are hit. Just ask anybody who runs an emergency room during a heat wave into climate change, emergency, store the climate and set this world right. Going to help remember what I said. I need you over right over here. Yeah, but clue. All right. Yeah, so every elder here to do is to think, what are you willing to do for the children that you love? That's really the question. Take a minute and just think of a young person. You could be any age. Think of somebody younger than you that you care about person in your mind. Now I'd like each of you to shout the name of that person. And if you have a sign, shake it all then. It's about the climate crisis. Take this personal. Are you willing? Yes, I'm vegetarian. If you're vegetarian, are you willing to become a vegan for the sake of your children? If you are willing to not fly until the climate emergency is over, it's hard. That's a hard one. Do you want to move near them? Are they going to move near you or you're not going to see each other in person again? Because we'd rather have them live. I want you to think about it. We're at that point. We have to make these decisions. Are you willing to cut your carbon footprint in half this year and then cut it in half again next year? That's what we need to do. That's what we're up against. Is that level of commitment by each of us? What about our savings? If you have savings in a bank, this one or another one, are you willing to spend that money on the planet, invest it in what needs to be invested, and let go of your savings in order to save the planet? That's what I'm asking you to do. Now I'd like you to just take a minute, turn to somebody near you, and tell them one idea that you've thought of, you've heard of, that you're inspired by today, that you're willing to take action on, and I'm going to set the microphone aside for a minute and while you tell somebody what you are going to do. Oh, that's good. Thank you everybody. Oh look, what happened behind me. You don't want to do that anymore. They're closed. They're closed. They're afraid of us because we're going to sing some songs and do a little talking out here today. Oh, I mean, we're going to make them change their business plan. Okay, so just a shout. If you played Monopoly when you were young, did you like that game? Yeah, so that was our training ground for how to take part in the capitalist society. Now, Jamie Diamond, you remember him, the guy that I was joking about? He's really good at playing Monopoly. He knows how to make a profit, and as a CEO, he's required, that's his job, is to make a profit, no matter what happens to the rest of the world. He's planned by the rules. And I just want to point out that Jamie Diamond is not our enemy, but he is definitely our target, along with the other CEOs who are making fossil fuel decisions and fossil fuel investment decisions. He's one of the people who can make the decision to stop investing in fossil fuels and put it towards life sustaining climate solutions instead. Could you imagine if the big bankers decided to invest in climate solutions like community-owned solar or geothermal network heating? How about regional food hubs? Prove the smart electric grid? We could put some money to some good uses. Okay, in the past year and a half, third act, we're a brand new organization, year and a half old, but in those last year and a half, we have asked nicely. We have signed pledges that will move our money out of these big dirty banks. If the decision makers refuse to stop funding fossil fuel expansion, we've delivered the pledges. We will act on those pledges to take our money out of Chase, City, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. We are here today to cut up our credit cards for those same banks. I just met a 25-year-old who came here today to close his account. He couldn't get in the door because they were afraid of us, I guess. The 25-year-old who heard what we're doing and decided to make the change. I want to thank him and everybody else who's decided to move their money. For me, this is a personal act. I close my account in big banks and I move some of my money into a local credit union that I can walk to in my small town. And the rest of it I've put into a regional bank that's a certified B corporation. That means it has a triple bottom line where they take into account when they're making a decision. It's affect a financial decision that affects people, the planet, as well as the financial. And they're investing in things like small local businesses, affordable housing and local environmental projects. I also canceled my Chase credit card. It's right here in my pocket. And I'm going to cut it up here in a little bit. If you're not ready but you're willing to cut up your credit card, we can provide some information to help you with making decisions about better banks and better credit cards. There's some information on the table.