FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2017
Contact:
Jade Begay, jade@ienearth.org, 505-699-4791
Nina Smith, nina@megaphonestrategies.com, 301-717-9006
Momentum Building as Communities Worth $4.6 Billion Call on Big Banks to #DeFundPipelines
Bemidji, MN – The Indigenous Environmental Network is continuing efforts to keep fossil fuels in the ground — this time calling on supporters to sign a petition calling on big banks to #DefundPipelines.
To view and sign the petition, click here.
The growing movement is calling on banks, investors, pension funds, and the public officials that manage public money to protect water, Indigenous rights and our climate by defunding DAPL and four proposed new tar sands pipelines. These banks have come under increasing pressure to stop financing human rights abuses and environmental destruction since the #NoDAPL struggle last year.
Leaders in the movement say that without loans, bond sales, and other forms of financial support, pipelines like DAPL, Keystone XL, Trans Mountain, Line 3, Energy East and other oil infrastructure won’t be built. And so started an online petition to target 17 banks most responsible (those in bold finance all of these companies): Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Mizuho, MUFG, RBC, SMBC, ScotiaBank, TD Bank, Wells Fargo, CIBC, BNP Paribas, and Bank of Montreal.
“More and more people are refusing to allow their dollars to flow into Energy Transfer Partner’s pockets. Despite massive support for Water Protectors and the attention given to Standing Rock, ETP continues to move dirty oil through our sacred lands with the full support of Donald Trump and the climate deniers running his administration,” said Dallas Goldtooth, Keep It In the Ground Campaign Organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network. “We’re calling on our partners and supporters to join us and keep our divestment movement going. ETP cannot move forward without resources to finance their pipelines. It’s time we showed our power by moving our dollars.”
Earlier this year, community members and their elected officials moved $5.4 billion out of banks invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Around the world, over 58,000 individuals and 700 colleges, churches, and other institutions are divesting another $5 trillion from fossil fuels in general.
Visit Mazaskatalks.org to learn more about all 64 banks that currently provide financing to at least one of the companies planning to build new tar sands pipelines.
And yet, research reports indicate the top global and US banks provided $785 billion for fossil fuel infrastructure such as coal and tar sands development from. Advocates say that investments lock in infrastructure that will push the world past the Paris Climate Agreement objectives – even as dozens of mayors, governors and local officials take action to honor the promise Donald Trump broke early in june when he withdrew from the agreement.
Still, activists are optimistic, pointing to recent bank protests that forced banks have dropped investments in DAPL or have committed, as US Bank recently did, to revisit their financing of future fossil fuel projects threatening Indigenous sovereignty, water and land.
Now with the support of hundreds of thousands of people representing billions of dollars, the leaders say they plan to deliver the message to “every bank, branch by branch, closing accounts and shutting down business as usual” until they stop financing Enbridge, Kinder Morgan and TransCanada, the companies behind the Dakota Access Pipeline and four proposed new tar sands pipelines projects.
We need everyone, from those of us living paycheck to paycheck on up to millionaires and billionaires, to align your money with your values. Withhold your consent from a global finance system that puts profits ahead of Indigenous rights, climate truth, long-term economic analysis, and a safe planet for all. To view and sign the petition, click here.
Infographic by Food & Water Watch and mazaskatalks.org
Black Snake Illustration by Jackie Fawn.
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The Indigenous Environmental Network is an international environmental justice nonprofit that works with tribal grassroots organizations to build the capacity of Indigenous communities. www.ienearth.org