Bank of America, already a target of the 99 Percent Movement for its attempts to levy a $5-a-month fee on debit cards and other practices, is now under fire from environmental activists who want it to stop financing the coal industry and destructive mountaintop removal practices.
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Eight protesters were reportedly arrested in uptown Charlotte on Tuesday morning after they climbed flag poles in front of Bank of America with a banner that said "Not with our money."
According to the Rainforest Action Network, eight people were arrested on Tuesday for protesting what they call "reckless financing practices" from Bank of America.
Amid chants of "Bank of America, bank of coal," eight protesters were arrested Tuesday morning outside the Charlotte bank's corporate headquarters.
The protesters were affiliated with the local chapter of the Rainforest Action Network and demanded an end to the bank's financing of coal-related operations. Members of the Occupy Charlotte movement joined in and were among those arrested, organizers said.
CHARLOTTE, NC—Today, eight people were arrested protesting Bank of America’s reckless financing practices, including the banks role as the lead financier of coal. Two people were arrested after unfurling a banner reading “Not with Our Money” from atop two 50-foot flagpoles at the entrance of Bank of America’s headquarters in downtown Charlotte. Six more were arrested below: two while supporting the climbers, and four while blocking the main entrance to the bank’s headquarters.
WASHINGTON—Today, the Obama Administration requested a 12-18 month review for the Keystone XL pipeline, dealing the project a critical, and potentially fatal, blow. The controversial project has seen rising opposition from landowners and environmentalists including a 12,000-person protest at the White House just last Sunday.
Rainforest Action Network Executive Director, Rebecca Tarbotton, issued the following response:
Today Rainforest Action Network (RAN) urged the City of San Francisco to cut ties with Bank of America, calling for the city to review its contracts with Bank of America next spring when the city re-opens bidding for its service agreements. As the Occupy movement exposes the current public anger with banks, Bank of America has risen as one of the most distrusted in the country.
One day in early September, some dozen Democratic activists showed up at the Washington state headquarters of Obama for America, the President’s re-election campaign organization in Seattle. They cornered the state director, Dustin Lambro, and called on the President to block TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would bring crude oil from the Alberta oil sands through the U.S. Midwest to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas, potentially doubling exports of oil sands crude to the U.S. “It’s not an issue I know much about,” Lambro said. So the activists gave him an earful.