Big Banks back away from Mountaintop Removal investments

(adapted from Rainforest Action Network news story)

Last month, Wells Fargo became the fourth top U.S. bank to adopt a position limiting financing of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. This shift is consistent with a national move away from support for the mining practice, which recently both scientists and the federal government have confirmed causes irrevocable harm to landscape, water quality and public health.

Within the last two years, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo along with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have passed policies limiting their financial relationships with coal operators that practice mountaintop removal. These banks were the lead financiers of the practice prior to their policy shifts.

The move comes as a response to more than three years of national pressure from several regional and national groups, spearheaded by Rainforest Action Network (RAN). KFTC members have attended and spoken out at bank shareholder and board of director meetings during these years.

One of the major impacts of these mountaintop mining policies is that the banks are no longer financing Massey Energy, the leading MTR coal company in the country that also was involved in the April 5 Upper Big Branch underground mine explosion where 29 miners were killed. In particular, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all of which have had substantial financing relationships (underwriting bonds or providing loans) with Massey Energy since January 2005, no longer finance the controversial company.

With the nation’s leading banks moving away from MTR, coal operators are looking toward new banks for financing. Currently, PNC and UBS are the lead financiers of the practice. PNC finances mining companies responsible for almost half of all mountaintop removal coal mined in the U.S. PNC has numerous locations in Kentucky, including in counties that produce coal. UBS has operations in Louisville, Lexington and Paducah.

Read the anti-MTR policies of various banks:
·      Bank of America 
·      Citi Bank
·      Credit Suisse
·      Morgan Stanley
·      JPMorgan Chase (page 31)
·      Wells Fargo

Comment from Teri Blanton:

Most of the work that we do around mining and clean energy issues is with government agencies or elected officials in the case of mountaintop removal, KFTC has been supporting Rainforest Action Networks (RAN) efforts to convince banks to stop financing mountaintop removal.  This effort has gained enough traction that 4 major national banks have adopted policies that explicitly denies funding for mtr.

We want to thank the KFTC members who have attended shareholders meetings to educate corporate officers and other share holders of the effects that their decisions have on the lives of the Appalachian people.  Supported by the proxy votes of other shareholders we’ve told the stories of the people who, until then, were just numbers on a balance sheet. We especially thank RAN for dedication to this project.  This is a major victory and we should savor it.