US (STOP THE MONEY PIPELINE) : OCTOBER NEWSLETTER .

 

This week, the New York Times revealed that Elon Musk has spent at least $366 million to sway the results of the midterms. I suppose that makes today a good day to reflect on the harm that Elon Musk and his DOGE cronies have caused over the last two years. Dead children. By some estimates Musk's boastful dismantling of USAID has resulted in the deaths of at least half-a-million children. If accurate, that would mean the world’s richest man caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of the world’s poorest children. Explosive diarrhoea. As this fired FDA worker warned, months before the cyclosporiasis outbreak that resulted in “exploding diarrhea” for thousands of Americans, DOGE’s gutting of the government’s food safety programs made such an outbreak far more likely.   Stealing from every living American. Whistleblowers have gone on the record, alleging that a DOGE staffer stole the sensitive personal data of every living American and told colleagues he wanted to share it with a private corporation. It’s no wonder that Musk and his cronies are terrified that they’re going to face real consequences and accountability in the new Congress. And Musk’s fears must be growing. Since our Investigate DOGE campaign launched, 17 Members of Congress have responded to our campaign. Here’s a snapshot of what they’re saying: “I strongly support efforts to investigate the full extent of DOGE's actions, including any coordination between DOGE and election deniers or other non-governmental organizations that have sowed chaos and distrust in our government's institutions.” - Senator Cory Booker (NJ) "There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk (…). They don't talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID. He needs to answer for that. He needs to be subpoenaed. He needs to face investigation. He needs to answer for what he did with DOGE." - Rep. Ro Khanna (CA) "Elon Musk and DOGE slashed the VA, gutted Social Security and undermined dozens of lifesaving federal programs – all in the name of 'savings.' Unsurprisingly, their math doesn’t add up. DOGE’s actions need to be investigated, and the Privacy Act needs to be updated so these failures can’t happen again." - Rep. Lori Trahan (MA) - MA-3, August 10, 2026 “Elon Musk needs to testify under oath. DOGE gutted the federal workforce and fired experts we need to keep America safe. He must answer for the damage he caused.” - Rep. James Walkinshaw (VA) - VA-11 On November 4th, we’ll find out what the new Congress looks like. But no matter the results, this age of impunity for billionaires needs to come to an end, and first and foremost that means Elon Musk being held accountable. To join the Investigate DOGE campaign and make sure you get the latest updates, join 38,000 others and send your Members of Congress an email now. In Solidarity - Alec Connon, Stop the Money Pipeline, coalition director. ____________ News and Updates from the Coalition. - Stop the Money Pipeline is cleaning house Stop the Money Pipeline launched in January 2020 as a coalition of 32 organizations. We grew rapidly to be a network of 230+ groups. However, since then some groups have moved on to other work, fallen out of touch, or no longer even exist. (A lot can happen in 7 years.) That’s why we’re currently running a coalition recommitment process – inviting existing coalition partners to formally recommit to the network and inviting new organizations to consider joining. So far, nearly eighty organizations have recommitted to being a part of the coalition. So this seems like a good time to say, if you’re a member of a community group that might be interested in joining the Stop the Money Pipeline network, complete this interest form and we’ll be in touch. (Please note: this is only for organizations interested in joining the network; not individuals) – Developing the climate movement's leadership Perhaps the single most important element of successful social movements is their commitment to continually developing leadership. That’s why, over the last nine months, we’ve run the Local Leads, Global Impacts program, putting a dozen climate movement campaigners through a rigorous nearly year-long training and mentoring program. This month, we wrapped up the program. Here’s what one cohort member, 350 Seattle’s Aki Chatterji, who’s leading the critical Make Polluters Pay WA campaign, had to say about the program: “The cohort gave me frameworks, language, and practical tools I know I'll keep returning to, and the weekly 1:1 mentorship has been absolutely invaluable in developing my skills, navigating thorny challenges, and managing the day-to-day of running a campaign.” As the cohort comes to an end, we’re excited to see how Aki and all of this talented group of campaigners put these skills to use in the real world, building power and leading campaigns to end the fossil fuel industry. – As the rest of the world ditches coal, Wall Street – and Citibank – doubles down At the Glasgow climate talks in 2021, the world’s governments made a landmark commitment to phase-out coal. A new analysis from Urgewald shows that since then coal financing has flatlined, but banks are moving in very different directions. Since 2022, European banks have slashed their financing of coal in half, and banks across Japan, India, and South-East Asia have cut funding for the dirtiest of fossil fuels. At the same time, US banks have increased their financing of coal by 23%. Citibank was among the worst offenders. So, all the more reason to keep the pressure up on Costco, one of Citibank’s largest clients, demanding it break ties with the coal-loving bank. Which is exactly what we’ve been doing: over the last month, activists across the Gulf South have been visiting Costco warehouses, demanding it drops Citibank as its co-branded credit card partner. And wherever you are, you can take action with the Costco: Clean Up Your Credit Card campaign by taking any of these simple actions. – Aligning your money with your values Our partner Third Act is hosting a training series on how you can align your money with your values. Next up, they are sharing how you can ensure that your home and auto insurance isn’t with a company that’s fueling the flames of the climate crisis. Join the session on October 19th at 1PT/4ET. – Energy is growing for real solutions to the climate-driven insurance crisis During NY Climate Week, we partnered with RAN and NYCC to bring together state legislators, policy experts, and community leaders to talk about the climate-driven insurability crisis and what we can do about it. We heard powerful stories from New Yorkers who have faced real financial hardship when insurers raised rates, and denied claims. We also heard all about how the insurance industry is making record profits, as it passes the costs of the climate crisis onto everyday people. Most importantly, we plotted out how we can pass the Insure our Communities Act, the country’s strongest piece of legislation to jointly tackle the insurance industry and the fossil fuel industry’s role in the climate crisis. If you want to nerd out on all of this & more, watch the panel discussion here. And if you’re in New York and you have a story about insurance industry malpractice, we’d love to hear from you. – Polluters must be made to pay Last month, Big Oil tried to move its “legal immunity bill” through the House of Representatives. Thankfully, after thousands of you contacted your Members of Congress to demand they stop the bill, the legislation stalled before the House went out on recess. But we need to be vigilant. We expect Big Oil’s puppets in Congress to try and move the legislation forward again in the lame duck session after the midterms. So if your Members of Congress haven't heard from you on this yet, make sure they do. And on that note, it seems appropriate to close with the words of the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres when he addressed world leaders in New York last month: Polluters must pay for the climate crisis.