From Appalachia to London, Barclays Bank Takes Heat for Coal Financing

By Rainforest Action Network

There is nothing quite like giving one of world’s biggest banks a bad day. A bad week is even better.

Today, protestors swamped Barclays’ annual shareholder meeting in London, calling out all sorts of nefarious deeds committed by the bank: speculating on food prices, supporting tax havens, ridiculous executive bonuses and its outrageous financing of the world’s dirtiest fuel, coal. BarclaysEagle

Our friends at World Development Movement showed up as well-dressed eagles to spoof the bank’s logo and call Barclays out for being the world’s largest financier of mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) in Appalachia.

Paul Corbit Brown, an Appalachian native and president of Keeper of the Mountains, drove the message home when he testified at today’s Annual General Meeting about how MTR goes beyond just leveling mountains. It poisons communities and causes devastating health problems wherever it is practiced.

Since last Thursday, Rainforest Action Network members have sent more than 19,000 messages to Barclays and demanded the bank immediately start moving away from financing mountain destruction.

Our pressure appears to be working. World Development Movement reports that Barclays has agreed to meet with Paul for a further discussion of MTR.

Photo Credit: World Development Movement