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The Sierra Club and Rainforest Action Network released a new report card on April 5 that names and ranks the top 10 financiers behind mountaintop coal mining projects. http://ran.org/reportcard
The top 10 mountaintop removal funders is a who's who of the banking world:
- Bank of America
- Citi
- Credit Suisse
- Deutsche Bank
- GE Capital
- JPMorgan Chase
- Morgan Stanley
- PNC
- UBS
- Wells Fargo
The report card concluded that these ten banks gave over $2.5 billion (that's billion with a "b") in loans and bonds to companies undertaking mountaintop removal coal mining projects.
Mountaintop removal coal mining consists of mountaintops being blown off in order to reach a thin layer of coal. As if this wasn't bad enough, the waste rock is frequently dumped into valleys below, destroying ecosystems and endangering public health.
As the Director of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, Mary Anne Hitt, pointed out,
"Mountaintop removal coal mining has no place in a clean energy economy, and the banks that finance this destructive practice deserve our scrutiny."
These banks deserve the scrutiny of the American people as well as President Obama, who has repeatedly paid lip service to the idea of moving America away from dirty sources of energy towards a clean and renewable energy future.
Americans are tired of waiting and the window of opportunity to move swiftly in the direction of clean and renewable sources of energy is upon us and the window won't stay open forever.
It's time to finally move beyond coal to save our mountains, our fragile ecosystems, our health, our economy, and future generations from never being able to experience the beauty of a complete natural landscape.
User comments or postings reflect the opinions of the responsible contributor only, and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Sierra Club and/or the League of Conservation Voters. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters accepts no obligation to review every posting, but reserves the right (but not the obligation) to delete postings that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate.
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