Reps. Tlaib, Pressley, Senator Markey Announce Legislation to Stop Big Banks from Bankrolling the Climate Crisis

Resources / Press Share on Reps. Tlaib, Pressley, Senator Markey Announce Legislation to Stop Big Banks from Bankrolling the Climate Crisis Oct 02, 2026 Press WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today announced the reintroduction of the Fossil Free Finance Act. The legislation would require banks to adopt emission transition plans to reduce financial sector emissions and deforestation risks. Under this legislation, large bank holding companies would be required to implement plans to reduce financial sector emissions 50 percent by 2035 and reach zero financial sector emissions by 2050. Additionally, it would require banks to discontinue financing for new or expanded fossil fuel projects within 60 days of enactment, immediately discontinue thermal coal financing and facilitation, and eliminate facilitation of deforestation risk commodities. Despite climate-driven wildfires, floods, and other disasters continuing to devastate regions across the country, banks continue to invest in contributing fossil fuel projects. Plans created from this legislation will help the financial sector align with science-based projections for emissions. “Our financial institutions and banks are funding the pollution of our air and water that make us sicker. They choose to invest billions of dollars in dirty fossil fuel projects,” said Rep. Tlaib. “Instead of acting to protect us, the Federal Reserve allowed these banks to finance the destruction of our planet and our health. I’m taking action with Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pressley to require the Federal Reserve to finally do something and address the dangers of our climate crisis.” “Our economy and global financial systems have a codependent relationship with the fossil fuel industry. We cannot wait for big banks to address the very climate crisis they are financing if we are serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. It’s like giving an arsonist a hose for one hand while they hold a gas can in the other,” said Senator Markey . “The Fossil Free Finance Act would require our financial institutions, including banks, to protect Americans’ savings, investments, and our economy by addressing the threats posed by climate change. We need to put the planet over profit and get fossil fuels out of our finances.” “We should be using every tool available to protect our planet, our people, and our economy, and one way we can do that is by stopping giant banks from financing fossil fuel projects,” said Rep. Pressley. “Our Fossil Free Finance Act would help confront the climate crisis by stopping financial institutions, including our nation’s largest banks, from providing trillions in fossil fuel financing and deepening the health inequities and harms that already plague our communities. I’m grateful to Senator Markey and Congresswoman Tlaib for their ongoing partnership on this bill to take urgent action to help prevent a massive, climate-induced economic collapse.” “Major US banks’ ongoing finance for fossil fuel expansion is driving worsening climate change and putting the entire financial system and public at risk,” said Alex Martin, Climate Finance Policy Director at Americans for Financial Reform . “The Fossil Free Finance Act would recognize the role that fossil fuel finance plays in driving climate-related financial risk, and require banks to develop climate action plans that address those risks, creating a critical safeguard for the public and the financial system.” “While financial policymakers around the world actively work to decarbonize their economies, U.S. policymakers have fallen behind, leaving our financial system exposed to the impacts of climate change,” said David Arkush, Director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program . “Financial institutions continue to finance, invest, and underwrite unnecessary projects—creating systemic risks that can reverberate across the economy. Rather than continuing to create risks for the financial system, large and systemically important financial institutions should be required to reduce their financed and facilitated emissions in line with science-driven targets. Neither Congress nor the Federal Reserve should wait for a financial crisis to address climate-related financial risk.” The Fossil Free Finance Act of 2026 would address climate-related threats to financial stability and help align the financial sector with science-based emissions targets by redefining financial sector emissions, mandating bank holding companies with at least $50 billion in assets to align with science-based emissions targets, and requiring the Federal Reserve to report to Congress on financial sector emissions, commitments by covered institutions, progress toward emissions targets, regulatory gaps, data challenges, and equitable transition needs. The Fossil Free Finance Act of 2026 is cosponsored by Senators