VIDEO: Creativity And Passion Are Driving The Occupation Of Wall Street

Walking around the “Island of Humanity” that is #OccupyWallStreet, I’m struck most by the creativity of expression and the impressive amount of organizing that has gone into keeping this three-week occupation going. It’s almost overwhelming to be here. But it’s also incredibly inspiring. I’ve been having some wonderful conversations and plotting sessions with a new [...]

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Calling Out Bank Of America’s Race To Pollute Chicago

Bank of America is sponsoring the Chicago marathon. Which is ironic, because Bank of America is also a leading financier of the Fisk coal-fired power plant in the Chicago community of Pilsen. The marathon runs right past the Fisk plant. In other words, Bank of America is lending its name to an event that promotes [...]

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Greetings From The Bank Of America Chicago Marathon Health & Fitness Expo!

Greetings from the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Health & Fitness Expo! I’m here manning a booth with RAN Chicago volunteers to get the word out about Bank of America’s financing of the filthiest polluting coal plants in Chicago. That’s right, when 45,000 runners join the Bank of America-funded Chicago marathon this weekend, the route [...]

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Time To End $122 Billion In Taxpayer Handouts To Fossil Fuels

Say you live next door to a polluting factory that is poisoning you and your family, and you decide to stop buying whatever that factory makes, voting for alternatives with your dollar. How would you feel if the owners of that factory then went and bought off as many politicians as possible so that they [...]

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PNC Bank’s Evolving Approach To The Energy Sector

PNC recently released their 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report. Documents like this  provide a window into how a bank thinks about its environmental and social impact. RAN has been paying close attention to PNC Bank and its approach to the energy industry for a couple of years, so I was eager to get my hands on [...]

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How Did the Banks Get So Weak, Anyway?

A great article from Forbes appeared in my Google alerts last week and I had to share. The article begins as yet another article describing the sad state of affairs at big US banks, namely Bank of America and Citi. The article goes on, however, to give a refreshingly short and simple explanation of how [...]

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Bank Of America Smack Dab In The Middle Of Coal Exports Controversy

Last week, Rainforest Action Network’s guerrilla projections team rolled around Seattle raising the profile of coal exports in the Pacific Northwest. Coal companies like Peabody Energy and Arch Coal are lobbying hard to build coal export terminals in Bellingham, WA and Longview, WA. And there are rumors that more such proposals will be popping up [...]

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35,000 People Call For Massey’s Corporate Charter to be Revoked

Last Friday, 35,000 signatures were delivered to the office of Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden by West Virginia residents who have directly experienced Massey’s disregard for worker safety, community health, and the environment. The petition called for General Biden to revoke Massey’s Coporate Charter. The delegation included West Virginia community members Lorelei Scarbro and Betty [...]

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Activists Shine A Light On Washington Coal Ports

Holy Coal Hard Truth, Batman! This week, I’ve been riding around the streets of Seattle with a guerrilla projection team. We’ve been shining a massive Bat Signal-like light on iconic locations around town to get our message about coal exports out to Seattle’s citizens. For almost a year now, one of the biggest environmental stories [...]

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Welcome To The Port Of Poverty And Pollution

The spirit of Seattle lives. A revolt is in motion in many parts of the country. It’s crossing issues and bringing together unlikely allies to challenge corporations and politicians acting against the needs of their citizens. In November 1999, RAN joined a diverse and lively global justice movement, which included environmentalists, labor, students, people of [...]

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