I joined a group of activists from New York PIRG and Rainforest Action Network today outside the JPMorgan Chase annual shareholder meeting. We were at the base of the skyscraper in Manhattan’s financial district, handing out flyers outlining JPMC’s many ties to the coal industry (MTR, new coal fired power plants) to shareholders as they headed into the building for the meeting.
It was not until the 12th or 20th time that I explained to a sharholder that JPMC was investing in dirty energy that I realized that there were several very determined men standing not far from us, on JPMC’s gorgeous property, scrubbing city soot from the steps and handrails. What irony! As JPMC finances coal, which releases toxic material into the air and cooks the climate, they are hiring people to clean up the outside of their building.
Hopefully, as we talk to JPMC more about their financing of new coal fired power plants, such as AMP-Ohio, and mountaintop removal coal mining companies such as Massey Energy, they will start to understand that stopping dirty energy is just as important as stopping dirty sidewalks.
-Annie