Bill McKibben to Jamie Dimon: No MTR!

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Bill McKibbon, author, activist, and founder of 350.org is helping to put the pressure on JPMorgan Chase to stop financing mountaintop removal coal mining! Check out his letter to Jamie Dimon, below:

-Annie

bill-mckibben

Mr. Jamie Dimon
Chairman and CEO
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
270 Park Ave NY NY 10017

Dear Mr. Dimon,

I’m writing to ask that your firm reconsider one corner of its business: financing mountaintop removal for coal mining in Appalachia.

It’s probably—along with the tar sands of Canada—the dirtiest business on the continent. Dirty when it’s mined (they mean it when they say mountaintop removal—they take the top off the mountain and dump in the valley next door); dirty when it’s burned (check out asthma rates near urban coal plants); and dirty for eons to come, with its effect on the planet’s climate.

As I understand it, a third of the coal moving out of those mountaintop sites comes from companies you guys have recently been involved in financing. By my definition above that’s dirty money, and it would be a credit to your reputation if you found the wherewithal to say no to this particular trade.

Bill McKibben
Ripton Vt. 05766