Wells Fargo’s Got Far to Go
Last Monday July 11, Wells Fargo announced a spiffy new “10-point environmental commitment” on the eve of a planned protest at their San Francisco headquarters. The PR maneuver seemed an awful lot like a last-ditch attempt to shield the company from criticism about the glacial pace at which its been moving towards any sort of meaningful environmental and social guidelines for investments.
Speaking of glaciers, many are melting faster than Wells Fargo (one of the nation’s top financiers of the oil and gas sector with over $4 billion invested) is moving to limit its investments in climate destabilizing fossil fuels.
At last Wednesday’s HQ protest, dozens of customers and concerned citizens called for “Less PR and More Progress” from the wayward banking giant. Take a minute to do the same. Call CEO Richard Kovacevich today at (415) 396-4928.
8 Responses to “Wells Fargo’s Got Far to Go”
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July 19th, 2005 at 12:09 pm
Yee, I called at that number. The girl said she would pass on my message. I told her that I am wanting to open up a checking account and build my credit history, but I wasn’t gonna do it with a bank that has little respect for da environment. Dontcha know!!! But now I’m wondering, should I open up an account with BofA now or wait til later this summer, cuz I definitely need one set up b4 I head off to college…
What do u think?
July 19th, 2005 at 12:24 pm
Hey there!
Thanks for taking the time to make a call. Did you know that companies have formulas to evaluate these type of comments. For every person who makes a call, like you did, they assume there are many hundreds more just like you who feel the same way. Never underestimate the importance of taking action – it really does make a difference!
In response to your question, there are lots of good alternatives to Wells Fargo or any other bank that is financing environmental destruction with its customers’ money. A good place to start learning about alternatives is on the RAN website at:
http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/global_finance/ria_intro.html
Generally, we say that “smaller is better,” and credit unions are best. This way, your hard earned cash will be reivested into your community instead of being used to fund overseas oil exploits, for instance. Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. And good luck in college!
July 20th, 2005 at 12:51 pm
My college only has 3: BofA, Wells Fargo, and Bay Federal. The college I will attend is located in Santa Cruz, but I live in Menlo Park (SF Bay Area), so the geographic distance is a problem. Unless Bay Federal has branches in Menlo Park…but I seriously doubt that
August 2nd, 2005 at 7:39 pm
I support green party, I’m an avid seeker of green products, issues and causes for the environment. I work for WFB and want to give you perspective from another angle to let you all know that there are plenty of RAN supporters working hard to get the word out within WFB and the companies that you are targeting for change. Thank you for your broad support!
August 3rd, 2005 at 9:13 am
Hey DTIV,
Glad to hear there are some environmentally-aware employees at Wells Fargo! If only your bosses and their bosses and the CEO would pay attention, they’d realize that taking a strong position on responsible investment is in everyone’s best interest, including their own company! Thanks for your support, and feel free to be in touch if there’s anything RAN can do to help you make your case inside the company.
November 22nd, 2005 at 1:10 pm
Hi. I pulled my accts out of WFB through the course of this summer and fall because of what I learned about WFB from RAN. I am a RAN member and so proud of them and the great work they do. I met a fellow at the recent Green Festival RAN table and discussed my pulling out of WFB. (He encouraged me to let this blog know the actions I have taken, so here I am.)Plus, I had just finished taking the rest of my savings out and needed to get that letter written to WFB’s CEO. Well, I did that this morning. Another ‘to do’ item off my list. Thanks for your encouragement. (and by the way, I joined my employer’s credit union for my checking acct and have finally invested in some SRIs as well). Thanks again!
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