Nov. 18 Day of Action: PNC Stop Funding Mountaintop Removal

By scott parkin

The anti-coal movement is on the move against PNC.

PNC: Stop Funding Mountaintop Removal

Nov. 18 Day of Action against PNC’s Mountaintop Removal Investments

Join Rainforest Action Network and allies all over Appalachia and the country in stopping PNC’s investments in mountaintop removal.

WHAT: PNC: Stop Funding MTR; Day of Action against to end Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Sector
WHERE: Your Town USA
WHEN; Nov. 18, 2010
CONTACT: sparkin@ran.org or 1-800-989-RAIN
INFO: www.dirtymoney.org
FACEBOOK RSVP: http://on.fb.me/c3hk2L
SIGN UP: forthcoming

Pennsylvania based bank PNC is the biggest U.S. financier of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Join us as we send a message to PNC to stop financing mountaintop removal!

Long on Talk, Short on Action
PNC calls itself “the greenest bank in the business.” While PNC has racked up an impressive amount of recognition for its green building designs, energy efficiency efforts, and minimizing of customer waste, it has bucked a banking sector trend by continuing to finance environmentally destructive mountaintop removal mining.

Violating Human Rights
Massey Energy operates some of the worst mountaintop removal mines in Appalachia. Massey Energy is the “poster child of mountaintop removal” and is responsible for the Upper Big Branch mine disaster which killed 29 miners. PNC Bank financed Massey Energy’s most recent bond offering, and participated in Massey’s $175 million loan agreement in 2008.

Destroying Appalachia’s Mountains
PNC has become the largest U.S. financier of coal mining companies, providing $500 million in loans and bond underwriting to the coal industry, with an estimated $80 million going directly to MTR mining operations in Appalachia. PNC Bank underwrote over $38 million in bonds and provided additional financial backing to Alpha Natural Resources, CONSOL Energy, International Coal Group and Patriot Coal this year – 2010

Six of the country’s largest banks have begun to phase out the financing of mountaintop removal. Four have dropped Massey Energy as a client. But PNC has done nothing and is now the largest funder of mountaintop removal in the United States.

Instead of financing the dirtiest, most destructive coal that comes from 500 destroyed mountains and poisoned numerous Appalachian communities, PNC needs to focus on a clean energy future that prioritizes energy efficiency and clean renewable sources.

Endorsed and Organized by Rainforest Action Network, Rising Tide North America, United Mountain Defense, Earth Quaker Action Team and Mountain Justice