Susan Chandler, 78, a former UNR professor at the School of Social Work, who took part in protests against the war in Vietnam and the civil rights movement, is back at it again, speaking out against corporations such as JPMorgan Chase funding coal, oil and gas firms. With hundreds of billions of dollars invested, the bank has been the world’s top funder of the fossil fuel industry for each of the past five years, and its Reno branch was the site of a recent intergenerational climate change protest.
“Chase bank and banks like Chase, they just keep feeding resources into fossil fuel industries. We want to draw a clear line about the banks. And so stop it, stop it. We don't want to support a bank that is killing the world,” Chandler said.
“If we come together, we can help,” Chandler told Our Town Reno after making a speech to those gathered outside the downtown Reno Chase location. “I mean the youth have been doing so much and Indigenous people have been doing so much. We can stand behind them. And we also can make, as [former civil rights activist and U.S Representative] John Lewis would say good trouble of our own too.”
Chandler recently wrote an op-ed with her grandson Liam Chandler-Isacksen, 15, called “A grandson and grandmother talk climate action.” She is also part of a new organization called Third Act, for people over the age of 60, launched by environmentalist Bill McKibben.
“I mean, our earth is in serious, serious danger for me personally,” Chandler said of her involvement and the importance of fighting for the next generations as well. “I have five grandchildren. During the fire season this year, it was like looking out on the apocalypse. I couldn't stand what was going to be there for my grandchildren. I mean, you know, will they have children? I mean, will the earth be here in a livable way?”
What about our elected officials, we asked? “They do things, but they're not anywhere near enough,” Chandler responded. “We need a Marshall plan, a bigger than a Marshall plan. Now you might not remember the Marshall plan. The Marshall plan is what went into effect after World War Two, to help Germany [and Europe] get back on its feet and see huge input resources. And the idea that if you really pour resources into this, into a situation that you can change things and we could change things.”
She believes more people could and should join the movement to save our planet.
“I believe that people really love their children and love this land. We live on this incredibly rich and beautiful piece of land here and want it to be there for the future generations. I just know that people believe that,” she said concluding our interview.