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News :: Environment : Organizing |
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Far from the Coalfields, Bank of America Can't Hide Dirty Investments |
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by erin
Email: grapevine (nospam) riseup.net (unverified!) |
05 Sep 2007
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As part of the Day of Action against Bank of America, part of an ongoing critique of B.o.A.'s funding of major players in the coal industry, a group of protesters held banners and passed out literature in front of the Bank in Amherst, MA on Friday. |
 Far from the Coalfields, Bank of America can't hide Dirty Investments |
The small group of folks passed out many flyers, and engaged in discussions with passers-by. Many pedestrians were surprised to hear that B.o.A. had provided major loans to Massey Energy, Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Florida Power, and other companies practicing mountaintop removal mining and huge-scale strip mining and building new power plants. Some looked at their credit cards, and were amazed that their Visas were actually B.o.A.
cards. Many were surprised to hear that B.o.A. is the 3rd largest corporation in the world, but, having a frustrated history of banking with this monolith, were not surprised to hear the truth behind the lipservice B.o.A. gives to environmental investing.
Voicing concern about global climate change, polluted water, and other effects of the Mountaintop Removal mining and burning of coal funded by the Bank of America, many people said they would close their accounts with this bank. One young woman went inside the branch as the protest continued out front and closed her account, explaining to the teller her dismay at the Bank's use of her money. One couple had just spent two hours opening a new account with Bank of America while the protest was getting underway out front. They were exasperated to learn about BoA's loans to Massey & Peabody (who they were familiar with from the John Prine song 'Paradise'), and promised to find a local bank to transfer their account.
The bank sits at a major downtown intersection in Amherst, and is the site of regular People in Black vigils, so employees in the bank paid little notice at first as folks assembled out front and unfurled signs reading "Bank of America: Dirty Money for Dirty Energy. Stop Funding Massey Energy, Arch Coal, Peabody, & New Power Plants" and, with a large image of the destruction of Kayford Mountain, in WV, "This is what Bank of America does with Your Money! Abolish Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining! Don't do Business with Bank of America!" Bank employees soon came outside and noted the presence of the protesters, but did not comment.
for more information, contact grapevine (at) riseup.net |
 Far from the Coalfields, Bank of America can't hide Dirty Investments |
See also:
http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org
http://www.dirtymoney.org
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This work is in the public domain. |
