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Wall Street Backs Away From Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Release Date: 
Wednesday, August 11, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO—Within the last two years, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo along with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have successively passed public policies limiting their financial relationships with coal operators that practice mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. These banks were the lead financiers of the practice prior to their policy shifts. Last month, Wells Fargo became the fourth top US bank to adopt a position limiting MTR financing.

Massey Energy, West Virginia Mine Owner, Draws Scorn on Wall Street

BofA Cutting Off Financing for Mine Operator; UBS Remains Large Lender

Massey Energy, owners of the West Virginia mine that exploded Monday, has drawn criticism for an array of safety violations and environmental issues over the years -- so much so that even some big Wall Street banks refuse to finance the Richmond, Va.-based company.

ABC News
Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Activists Send Message to Massey CEO Don Blankenship at the National Press Club: “Your coal is not Clean, Safe or Forever.”

Release Date: 
Thursday, July 22, 2010

CONTACTS:
Amanda Starbuck, 415.203.9952
Nell Greenberg, 510.847.9777

For hi-res photos go to: http://bit.ly/8XGpGi

Activists Staged Creative Sit-In at EPA Headquarters to Call for Stronger Action on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Release Date: 
Thursday, July 8, 2010

WASHINGTON— Today, activists with the Rainforest Action Network staged a four hour sit-in at the EPA headquarters to demand stronger protection for Appalachia’s drinking water and an end to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining.
 

Much-Lauded Strict Mountaintop Mining Guidelines Not So Strict

Release Date: 
Tuesday, June 29, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO– Just last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the Army Corps of Engineers a green light for the Pine Creek mine permit, a mountaintop removal (MTR) mining site in Logan County, W.Va. This is the first permit decision the EPA has issued under the new mountaintop mining guidelines, which came out last April and were anticipated to provide tougher oversight of mountaintop removal coal mining.
 

Activists Send Message at Massey Energy Hearing: Coal is Dangerous

Release Date: 
Thursday, May 20, 2010

Washington, D.C. (5/20/10)— Today activists with the Rainforest Action Network attended the 2:00pm Massey Energy hearing before the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) Committee. RAN activists were present to ensure that Massey’s controversial CEO, Don Blankenship, was held accountable for his role in the April 5, 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion where 29 miners tragically died. They were also calling attention to the company’s repeated mine safety and environmental violations.

Rainforest Action Network Welcomes JPMorgan’s First Public Statement on Controversial Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Release Date: 
Monday, May 17, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (May 17, 2010) – Just one day before their Annual General Shareholder meeting, JPMorgan Chase released their 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report including its first public statement on financing for companies that practice mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining.

JPMorgan Gets an “F” on Mining

In late March, I wrote about how Wall Street powerhouse JPMorgan Chase continues to fund coal companies that engage in mountaintop removal mining (MTR), a dangerous, environmentally devastating type of strip mining in which the peaks of mountains are literally blown off, exposing the seams of coal that run underneath.

Mother Jones
Mother Jones
Thursday, May 13, 2010

JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America Called Out for Financing Mountaintop Removal

Mountaintop removal is one of those instinctively gut-wrenching things--it's never pretty to see natural habitats blown open to make room for coal mining. And yet, many of the biggest banks in the U.S. continue to fund the practice, according to a report from the Rainforest Action Network.

Fast Company
Fast Company
Friday, May 14, 2010

U.S. to Split Up Agency Policing the Oil Industry

"Members of the Rainforest Action Network, top, listened Tuesday at a Senate committee hearing as oil executives, middle, waited to testify before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources"

Full article and photo at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/us/12interior.html

U.S. to Split Up Agency Policing the Oil Industry
The New York Times
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
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