The top three “climate killers” will not come as much of a surprise: JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and none other than Bank of America top the list with $22 billion, $18.27 billion, an $16.79 billion invested in coal since 2005, respectively.

As officials from around the world are assembling in Durban, South Africa to discuss ways to combat climate change, banks around the world are busy trying to figure out how they can profit off of making the climate crisis worse.

In fact, between 2005 — the year the Kyoto Protocol went into effect — and 2010, funding for coal nearly doubled. Yes, you read that right: As the world’s leaders have been trying to get their act together and deal with the most urgent existential crisis humanity has ever faced, the biggest banks in the world have been busy sinking as much money as they can into the single largest cause of that crisis (emissions from coal-fired power plants are the biggest source of man-made carbon pollution).

As the report notes, these banks are not unaware of the climate crisis. It’s just that they see it more as an opportunity for some great PR than a problem they have a stake in solving even if it means leaving money on the table. All of the top 20 coal bankrollers have made climate commitments that are drastically contradicted by where they’re actually investing their money.

JP Morgan Chase claims it’s “Helping the world transition to a low-carbon economy”, for instance. Citi holds itself out as the “Most innovative bank in climate change” — which sounds more like Citi is gunning for Chase’s number one spot than trying to help solve the climate crisis, but who am I to quibble with how Citi chooses to word its greenwash.

Bank of America has declared that “The most formidable challenge we face is global climate change.” A fittingly purposeless statement, given that BoA has invested $4.3 billion in the US coal industry, making it the single largest underwriter of America’s coal problem.

Here is a chart showing which banks made the top 20, and the amount they’ve invested in companies that are polluting our communities and wrecking our climate:

An international coalition of NGOs came together to release this groundbreaking report, including urgewald, a German environmental organization; groundWork and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, two South African social and environmental justice organizations; and BankTrack, an international network. RAN contributed research to the report.

A full copy of the study with a ranking of all the researched banks can be downloaded here. The underlying data for this research were provided by Profundo economic research. They can be found here.

Earlier this month, AEP announced that upcoming EPA clean air regulations (which have now been announced) may mean that the company will need to close 25% of their coal fleet. This proclamation was of course meant to scare legislators into taking the EPA’s power to enforce the Clean Air Act away. Then news broke that AEP is putting its money where its mouth is — lots of money.  AEP spent a reported $2 million lobbying in the 1st quarter of 2011. $2 million in just 3 months!!!

The New York Times responded to AEP  in an editorial blasting the company for misleading the public about impacts of EPA regulations, bullying the agency, and failing to address real concerns about its aging coal fleet. The EPA also responded during a US Senate hearing by clarifying that most of AEP’s plant closures won’t be because of the EPA, they will be because AEP’s fleet is too old to compete in energy markets.

Over the past month, AEP has demonstrated that it is a coal company that is willing to lie to the public and spend millions to influence politicians and erode the ability of democratic institutions such as the EPA that were created to ensure clean air and water for all Americans. Which leads me to wonder, which banks are behind AEP?

A quick look at AEP’s financing shows that in the past 2 years (since June 2009) several banks have provided large sums of money in the form of bond underwriting to AEP. Some of the most interesting include*:

• Barclays Bank provided $300 million
• UBS provided $190 million
• Morgan Stanley provided $175 million
• Citi and JP Morgan Chase each provided $87.5 million
• Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse each provided $75 million

All of these banks should cut ties with AEP. Financing a company like AEP that undermines democracy and burns climate-killing coal is irresponsible at best.

* All research is sourced from Bloomberg

Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club released the 2011 Mountaintop Removal Report Card today. The report card exposes relationships between 10 of the biggest banks in the world and the top companies practicing mountaintop removal mining in central Appalachia.

Some of the findings:

• Since January 2010, Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, GE Capital, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, PNC, UBS and Wells Fargo together provided more than $2.5 billion in loans and bonds to MTR companies.
• The top three financiers of MTR are PNC, Citi and UBS.
• Of the 10 banks in the report, Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse have the strongest MTR policies.

Since 2010′s MTR report card was released last spring, five banks released policies addressing mountaintop removal: JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC, UBS and Credit Suisse. The MTR report card has served as an excellent tool for RAN to engage with executives at the biggest banks and help them move away from financing the devastating practice of mountaintop removal.

We hope that this year’s report will continue to pressure the biggest financiers of mountaintop removal to develop meaningful policies limiting their exposure to MTR mining companies, and to push banks with existing policies to make them stronger. You can send a wake-up call to banks and call on them to stop funding the horrendously destructive practice of mountaintop removal by sending them our new video, “Mountaintop Removal: An American Tragedy,” which shows exactly what they’re bankrolling.

We’re not popping the champagne over this one yet, but it’s definitely a solid step in the right direction. RAN has been campaigning for over a year to get JPMorgan to stop financing companies who practice MTR, and this is the bank’s first public step forward. To be specific, for the first time JPMorgan has included in its Corporate Responsibility report a statement on its “enhanced review” process for doing business with companies engaged in mountaintop removal.

One major point of interest is that JPMorgan is saying it did no financing for any company with “significant” MTR operations in 2009. What does that mean? Well, comparing its 2008 clients to 2009 and 2010, there’s an obvious exception: Massey Energy, the leading MTR company in the country which is currently facing criminal charges for last month’s fatal mine explosion. We’d like to think the removal of Massey Energy from the bank’s portfolio is an intentional part of the new enhanced review process, but JPMorgan won’t confirm that.

JPMorgan explains its new MTR position this way:

JPMorgan “has undertaken an enhanced review of all proposed banking transactions for companies engaged in MTR. This enhanced review is in addition to the customary diligence employed for companies in the extractive industries and includes considerations of a company’s regulatory compliance history, as well as exposure to future regulatory changes and litigation risks, particularly as they relate to valley fills and water quality issues.”

In much less wonky terms, this is what Amanda Starbuck from RAN had to say in a press statement this morning:

“JPMorgan has joined but not surpassed Bank of America and Citi who both announced financing guidelines on mountaintop removal coal mining in 2008. If JPMorgan wants to lead instead of follow on environmental responsibility, the way forward is a complete phase-out of mountaintop removal coal financing…JPMorgan’s statements on mountaintop removal coal mining are a testament to the hard work of Appalachian communities and activists across the country, whose collective pressure left JPMorgan with little choice but to begin addressing its support for this devastating form of resource extraction.”

As with all corporate policies the devil is the details. We will have to see if policy turns into practice and prevents JPMorgan from funding companies destroying Appalachian communities, mountains and drinking water. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to monitor JPMorgan’s lending to ensure that its new position on mountaintop removal coal mining impacts reality on-the-ground for the people of Appalachia.

This may be the most creative protest yet…

On March 21st Rev.Billy and his gospel choir built a mountain in the lobby of a Chase branch on 2nd Avenue & 10th Street in Manhattan, NY made from the “murdered mud” of Coal River Mountain in West Virginia. Perched on top they left a letter for the CEO of Chase Jamie Dimon.

Rev. Billy and choir make a mountain, singing “Bring back the mountain children, Chase is gonna bring back the mountain!”

You can read the Rev’s reflection on the protest here.

Today, I got the following email from Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping:

Our new song “Mountain-top” begins with this re-questioning from Dr. King’s last sermon:

Have we been to the mountain-top?
Did we do all we could do?
JP Morgan rains down rock
Exploding loans from the Devil came due…

We are joining thousands of activist citizens who have opposed the removal of peaks in Appalachia for “dirty coal” mining. In resisting Consumerism, there is always an earth-justice motive, right in front of us. We remember leading Iceland citizens into their own super malls to oppose the big dams and aluminum smelters; and we recall opposing the super ferry in Kauai; and also singing to tree-sitters up in the redwoods.

When you start with such a general plea as “Stop Shopping” – your work can go in so many directions. Now, mountaintop removal, the shopping for energy that murders citizens living on the streams below and poisons the air at great distances – now this must be our cause.

The mountain activists are welcoming us because there is a role for New Yorkers – with JP Morgan Chase headquartered here, the branch bank chain store that kills off our indie shops. We will chase Chase out into the open. We promise our Appalachian friends that this city will not protect the bank that finances most of this violence against the mountains.

-Reverend Billy and the Life After Shopping Church

Sounds like Rev. Billy and crew are joining our crusade to save the mountaintops. You may not live in the coalfields, but as Rev. Billy can attest you can still fight to end mountaintop removal from wherever you are.

In the days before, the re-branding of Chase went viral. Armed with a thumbmail picture and a few status messages, people all over the internet let their friends and family know the truth about Chase and mountaintop removal.

Through the course of the day, we hit Chase in the following ways:

-RAN and allies Tweeted to over 330,000 people
-RAN and allies touched 180,000 people on Facebook
-had over 30 unique blogs posted, including posts on Huffington Post, Treehugger and Grist
-had 3,000 people “defriend” the Chase Community Giving Facebook fan page
-reports of dozens of people cancelling their Chase credit cards and bank accounts.
-one Appalachian activist started a “Boycott Chase” Facebook group.

This day of action has actually created a surge of activity amongst RAN and our allies as we’re getting lots of calls from activists and RAN members asking what more they can do to tell Chase to stop funding mountaintop removal.

I love it when online asks turn into offline action.

They have financial relationships with the poster child of mountaintop removal, Massey Energy. That means their money is funds sludge impoundments like Brushy Fork which is currently holding 7 billion gallons of coal waste above the Coal River Valley. Their money funds the dragline that 14 of my friends shut down in Twilight last June that scrapes away house size chunks of earth after the mountain has been blasted. Their money funds the security guards and noise machines that harassed and abused 3 tree-sitters last month defending Coal River Mountain with non-violent direct action. Their money funds Don Blankenship’s helicopters, mansion and corrupt junkets to Spain with WV Supreme Court Justices .

Chase has hired PR firms to re-brand themselves on the internet as “charitable” and “benevolent” through their “Chase Community Giving sites and Facebook Fan Pages (even though they disallowed “political” groups from participating in any fundraising). Chase touts themselves as a green environmentally friendly bank. Their greenwashing, social media branding and high powered PR firms can’t hide the truth about what Chase really does. They are complicit in destroying Appalachia’s mountains, poisoning it’s communities with dirty water and ruining it’s economy by creating conditions that lead to the worst poverty in the country.
Today, we’re exposing that truth using tools on the internet that will concentrate tens of thousands of people on Chase brand they’ve spent so much money perfecting.

It’s time we amp up the pressure on Chase and take their money out of the coal industry.

Please join us for a social media day of action. We are using our Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and blogs to hold JP Morgan Chase accountable for financing this despicable practice. Follow this link to take social media action and tell JP Morgan Chase to stop destroying Appalachia’s mountains.

Some ways to take action:

1.Update your facebook status with this message: “Chase is bankrolling the destruction of American mountains for coal. End mountaintop removal and PUT CHASE ON THE RUN. Take action today at DirtyMoney.org.
2. Upload this Chase brand jam image to your Facebook picture (image to the left)”
3. Brand jam Chase’s Facebook page “Chase Community Giving.” (follow this link)
4. .Tweet this message: #Chase is bankrolling the destruction of American mountains. Take action at DirtyMoney.org. #coal #mtr #RAN Please RT.
5. Upload the Chase brand jam image to Flickr (image to the left)
6.Blog the social media day of action

There’s been a lot in the news over the past couple of days about the public’s relationship to banks, and especially the big banks. I thought I’d take a moment share some of the highlights.

An article in a New York Times blog today talks about a report by Forrester Research. Apparently, Forrester asked nearly 4,500 bank customers the question, “my financial provider does what’s best for me, not just its own bottom line” and then ranked nearly 50 financial institutions on the percentage of its customers that agreed. The big findings? People trust the largest financial institutions least. The banks who ranked worst in this report were, Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, TD/Commerce, Fifth Third, Citibank, and in last place, HSBC.

Also, the Move Your Money project seems to really be taking off. They’ve got a Facebook group with a ton of followers, lots of news coverage, and a pretty radical message about taking money out of the biggest financial institutions and moving it to credit unions and community banks. They’ve even got this great web video:

RAN is running a campaign demanding that JP Morgan Chase stop financing mountaintop removal coal mining and shift their financing from the coal industry to renewable energy. Support our campaign by donating to RAN or joining our online action campaigns. Coincidentally, another banker in the news this week was Chase’s own CEO, Jamie Dimon. Turns out that while his company is financing destruction in Appalachia, he is getting paid a $16 million bonus for 2009.

-Annie

-Annie

Jim Fuschetti

Dear Mr. Mudd:

Jamie Dimon has asked me to respond to your letter to him dated January 1, 2010.

Let me begin by saying how much we value your business and I am pleased to learn you are satisfied with the services Chase provides.

More importantly, take a look at (and join!) Mr. Mudd’s Facebook group.

Regrettably, there has been misinformation spread by a number of campaigning environmental organizations that have failed to do their homework and have chosen to not listen to facts. We have corresponded with Mr. Michael Brune, the Executive Director of Rainforest Action Network and his counterparts at the Sierra Club to no avail so I value the opportunity to correspond with you directly.

Notably, Mr. Fuschetti corresponded with RAN on our blog just two weeks ago.

First — let me assure you that JPMorgan Chase is not “a major investor in companies, such as Massey Energy, that profit from destructive surface mining in the mountains of Appalachia.”

JPMorgan Securities was the lead manager in a $690 million bond for Massey Energy in August of 2008. While Wells Fargo and Bank of America have moved away from financing Massey, JP Morgan Chase is one of the last big U.S. Banks to do business with this company.

The firm does not directly fund specific MTR projects or sites. However, we have provided financial services to a limited number of coal mining companies with limited mountaintop removal mining operations.

JPMorgan Chase has provided direct financial services to 5 of the top 10 corporate producers of MTR coal, Massey Energy Company, International Coal Group, Arch Coal, CONSOL Energy, and TECO Energy. Together, these companies were responsible for mountaintop removal mining 37,899,484 tons of coal in 2008 (the most recent year with complete data). (Source: Bloomberg, www.opensourcecoal.org)

Furthermore, as I am certain you can understand, not all mountain mining operations are the same. Practices and permits vary from company to company.

Really? Some MTR mining is better than other MTR mining? There is no environmentally responsible way to blow the top off of a mountain, Mr. Fuschetti.

As a matter of record, JPMorgan Chase has not arranged or underwritten a capital markets transaction for Massey Energy since August 2008. We have tried to explain all of this to the campaigning environmental organizations but they do not appear to be interested in facts that do not serve their negative and unconstructive messages.

As mentioned above, JPMorgan Securities was the lead manager in a $690 million bond for Massey Energy in August of 2008. This bond doesn’t mature until August 2015, meaning that Massey Energy, by far the biggest producer of MTR coal, is still a client of JPMC and will be for several more years. (Source: Bloomberg)

Second — JPMorgan Chase supports the Obama administration’s Inter-Agency Task Force on MTR. We agree with you that this is the correct way to address this issue — a fact and science based discussion among regulators without the hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims and counterclaims that have distorted this discussion.

It sounds like JP Morgan Chase is hiding behind government regulators here. If you agree that mountaintop removal coal mining is abhorrent, then stop financing it. End of story.

Third — the bills in the congress and the statements by Senator Byrd are helpful in finding a solution that meets the needs of all parties. Indeed, this is the proper role of representative government, not NGOs with their own agendas or banks with their business interests. Legislation will benefit all parties, including the coal companies, as it will remove an increasing amount of uncertainty for everyone.

Maybe JP Morgan Chase would be willing to send a letter to Senator Byrd and other Congressional representatives asking them to take a stand on mountaintop removal?

Fourth — We have examined the facts, consulted with our mining and utility clients, examined numerous aerial photographs of mine sites and studied maps, watched documentaries, visited mine sites in West Virginia, examined legal cases, studied the relevant scientific, economic and social literature, read NGO analyst reports, and we have carefully read every one of the written communications we have received from NGO’s and others who have taken the time to communicate with us.

Did you meet with impacted communities in Appalachia? Did you drink tap water contaminated with heavy metals? Did you worry that a coal slurry impoundment would burst while you were just down stream and that you wouldn’t have time to evacuate? If you had done these things, Mr. Fuschetti, I think you would help us move JP Morgan Chase’s money out of mountaintop removal financing rather than making excuses for it.

As you can see, during the past twelve months JPMorgan Chase has made a substantial effort to better inform itself about the environmental and social impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. As a result of our own analysis and benefiting from information and perspectives provided by others, our senior management’s awareness of these impacts has increased significantly. Consequently, early in 2009 we took concrete action to ensure appropriate assessment and review procedures are in place to evaluate these impacts when considering working with companies engaged in MTR. We also began including our Reputation Risk Committee when examining transactions for companies engaged in MTR.

Then why did JP Morgan Chase initiate $1.3 billion in investments in Arch Coal in July and August of 2009? Arch Coal was responsible for MTR mining nearly 5 million tons of coal in 2008 and they own Spruce mine, the largest MTR mine site in all of Appalachia. More on Arch’s Spruce mine and its struggle with environmental regulators can be found in the West Virginia Gazette.

Since early 2009 JPMorgan Chase’s Environmental and Social Risk Management Unit has been applying an Enhanced Assessment Procedure (EAP) to every banking transaction we consider for companies engaged in MTR coal mining. This EAP is in addition to the customary comprehensive diligence inquiries and investigations we employ for companies in the extractive industries. The content and application of the EAP is reviewed and updated constantly to reflect changes in the regulatory, legal and public discourse on this evolving issue.

JPMorgan Chase’s Enhanced Assessment Procedure is news to us. RAN would like to see JPMC release and provide regular reporting on a publicly available policy that will lead to the termination of financing for mountaintop removal coal mining. An “Enhanced Assessment Procedure” is clearly not enough, since the deal with Arch Coal apparently went through after its implementation.

Mr. Mudd — let me assure you that your bank, JPMorgan Chase, has already made many changes in the way it assesses the MTR mining activities of coal mining companies in Appalachia and we continue to follow this situation carefully. Please do not judge JPMorgan Chase based on unsubstantiated and incorrect accusations by well meaning but misinformed organizations.

I thought you would also be interested to learn that your bank is engaged in a wide range of activities that contribute to improved environmental sustainability and reduced GHG emissions. These include investing in clean and renewable energy, initiatives that reduce our own environmental “footprint” and activities that help our clients secure the financial resources they require to achieve their own environmental objectives. For example:

The firm has made a public commitment to reduce its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with specific targets:

- Reduce its global GHG emissions 20% by 2012 from a 2005 baseline

Does this mean JPMC’s financed emissions or simply emissions from day-to day office operations? RAN would be thrilled if JPMC measured and reduced its total financed emissions – but I suspect that’s not what you are referencing.

- In 2008 the firm began offsetting 100% of the carbon emissions from employee air travel

Through which program? Carbon offsets can be very controversial; we would love more specifics on how JPMC is offsetting employee air travel. Maybe JPMC can take a look at RAN’s carbon offset alternative program – the Climate Action Fund.

- The form is refurbishing its branches and building new branches employing energy saving devices and other green characteristics

Again, specifics would be much appreciated. Is JPMC simply installing compact fluorescent light bulbs? Lots of businesses are initiating cost saving energy efficiency measures, I’m don’t that JPMC should get praise for such mediocrity.

JPMorgan Chase is investing in renewable energy employing its own capital and the capital of its clients. With expertise in wind, solar, and geothermal, JPMorgan Chase expects to further grow its renewable energy investments as opportunities appear. Investments currently include:

- JPMorgan Capital Corporation – Tax equity investments totaling over $2.4 billion in 57 wind farms and one solar facility in the U.S. JPMCC may be the largest tax equity investor in wind in the U.S.

- J.P. Morgan Asset Management – The Global Real Assets Group acts as investment advisor to institutional investors who have investments in twenty wind farms located in the U.K. and the U.S. with total generation capacity of 750 MW. Seventeen of the wind farms are located in the U.K., of which one is off-shore, and three are located in the states of New York, Texas and Oregon.

- One Equity Partners – Has an equity ownership interest in Clipper Windpower plc – a wind energy technology, manufacturing and project development company.

These are exactly the kind of investments that RAN would like to see JPMC develop further. JPMC currently has over $7.8 trillion invested in corporations practicing mountaintop removal, with even more in the coal and oil sectors more broadly. I look forward to the day when JPMC invests trillions in renewable energy.

The firm is also helping its clients address the challenges and opportunities of climate change by developing innovative financial solutions.

- The firm’s Environmental Markets Group provides financial products for clients that need to manage their emissions. In November, 2009 the firm purchased EcoSecurities, one of the largest and most active financial institutions in the carbon offset and sales markets.

- The Alternative Energy Investment Banking Group provides investment banking expertise for clients in the renewable energy and energy efficiency space.

- The JPM Equity Research Group identifies and assesses opportunities for investor clients in the solar, biofuel, and other renewable energy industries.

The above are but a few examples of the many initiatives the firm has undertaken as part of its commitment to helping facilitate the transition to a low carbon and more environmentally sustainable future. We take that commitment seriously.

I started this note by saying how much we value your business and I can assure you we work diligently every day to earn the trust of our customers. We recognize that as hard as we try — we can not make everyone happy all the time. However, please be certain we try to do the right thing on every occasion.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

Sincerely,

James J. Fuschetti

Managing Director

Office of Environmental Affairs

JPMorgan Chase

No. thank you, Mr. Fuschetti.

-Annie

Illustration by Stefan Lorant

As an ode to the  “rank ‘em and spank ‘em” strategy coined by our outgoing Executive Director Mike Brune, we proudly present the following roster of international banks backing expansion in the tar sands.

The table below is based on credit extended underwritten by each bank to companies operating in the tar sands since 2007 according to Bloomberg. Restrictions at Bloomberg now prevent us from publishing deal-by-deal details to the web, but are available upon request if you leave your email in the comments.

Each of these banks received letters from RAN, IEN and BankTrack late last year requesting information about how they are addressing the damage caused by tar sands development. Responses (or lack thereof) will help us identify which banks are serious about responsible banking, and which may need more convincing. Responses received to date are also linked in the table after the jump.

UPDATE: There’s been some questions about how these numbers are derived.  We have answers, following the table.

*Totals are based on underwriting league tables reported by Bloomberg. Totals are derived from loans to companies with significant operations in the tar sands. Specifically the companies listed below. Totals may not reflect actual lending. Totals represent the full value of loans where the bank acted as lead book-runner (also called managing underwriter, lead manager, etc…) . Where the bank was one of multiple lead book-runners, value is awarded pro-rata.  Here’s the details from Bloomberg (look under “fixed income eligibility criteria”).

Athabasca Oil Sands Corp
Baytex Energy Trust
Bonavista Energy Trust
BP plc
Bronco Energy Ltd
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd
Canadian Oil Sands Trust
CanWest Petroleum Corp
Cenovus Energy Inc
Chevron Corp
China National Petroleum Corp
Connacher Oil & Gas Ltd
ConocoPhillips
Devon Energy Corp
Enbridge Inc
EnCana Corp
Enerplus Resources Fund
Exxon Mobil Corp
Harvest Energy Trust
Husky Energy Inc
Imperial Oil Ltd
Inter Pipeline Fund
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP
Koch Resources LLC
Korea National Oil Corp
Marathon Oil Corp
MEG Energy Corp
Mocal Energy Ltd
Murphy Oil Corp
Nexen Inc
Nippon Oil Corp
Occidental Petroleum Corp
Oilsands Quest Inc
OPTI Canada Inc
Paramount Resources Ltd
Pembina Pipeline Income Fund
Pengrowth Energy Trust
Penn West Energy Trust
Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd
Petro-Canada
Royal Dutch Shell plc
Sinopec Group
StatoilHydro ASA
Suncor Energy Inc
Syncrude Canada Ltd
Total SA
TransCanada Corp
UTS Energy Corp

And just last year I saw her accept a Goldman Environmental Prize for her efforts as an organizer working to save the mountains and the communities she’s from and committed to. As a result of efforts and this attention Maria is gaining some notoriety, and with it there are pros and cons. On the one hand the issue is certainly gaining awareness which is critical if we are going to then raise the consciousness that will lead to an end to this terrible, destructive assault – on the other, those that support Coal (or more likely, the few that benefit the most from it) see Maria as more of a strident agitator than ever.

She’s an 8^th generation “mountain holler girl” who lives where her forebears made their home. She’s encircled by mountains – or their remains – and is just at the back of the town of Bobwhite, West Virginia. She has a teenage son and daughter, and a bunch of baby kittens, and two dogs – one her pet, the other for security.

One of Maria's new kittens

There is also a big, shiny chain link fence around her house. You don’t see many of these in this part of the world. This is for protection – something most folks here don’t need as much as Maria and her family does, though there are several who can very much relate to this necessity.

There used to be two mountains here in front of Maria's house

But it hasn’t always been this way. Only since the death threats, the killing of her daughter’s dog that she raised from a pup delivered to her school bus stop, the trucks trying to run her off the road, and more. Recently the coal trains that pass by her house have photographers at the back, cameras pointed her way.

Maria is one of many West Virginians who has deep roots in this part of the world. The old barn has GUNNOE painted on the side – her grandfather built the barn and her Brother painted on the name. And she and her forebears were baptized in the river that runs nearby – though now the water is polluted with chemical waste, part of the “coal washing” process, so the baptisms take place in the church.

The incidence of cancer is on the rise, and given that the water tests show the presence of the same chemicals that you get from processing coal, it’s obvious there is a link between the two. And this link is killing people.

And it was when the mountains around her home began to disappear, when the flooding started as a direct result of the valley fill behind her house, when what were the Twin mountains in front of her home became one mountain, and the frogs disappeared – these were all some of the signs that the coal companies were damaging her world, and she stood up to them.

Maria isn’t one to run from a fight, and she’s not backing down from this one.

“The people around me are my friends, I’m not so worried about them. It’s the ones who come from outside to work for Massey – they’re the ones who are causing us all trouble.”

Lindytown and Twilight from Above - this gives you some idea of where and how big this is

Maria took us to visit her friend, Laura Webb, after driving us through the remains of Lindytown and Twilight – the latest community that Massey has been intimidating and buying out in an effort to depopulate what stands in the way of cheap, easy coal. Laura was one of the last to agree to a buyout – and there wasn’t much reason to stay. Her neighbors had all moved away. The coal operations around her home were literally right above her – and across from her – and behind her. There was no safe place for her or her family anymore here.

The view from Laura's front yard - one of two MTR sites and the entrance to the Twilight Mine

And even after she signed the agreement to sell her property, she was given more messages to get out. One day a truck drove up and a man on the back used a boom to pull down her phone and power lines.

And in an example of how cruel the actors behind the intimidation are, while she was out looking for a place to move her mobile home, her horse was poisoned – she returned home to find it lying on its side in distress, its water trough empty and overturned.

“I stayed up all night with him, but there was nothing I could do to save him.”

Laura Webb was intimidated by Massey Coal

When I saw her she was two days over the agreement date and had a bunch of belongings as well as her house that needed to be moved. Massey could come along at any time and claim whatever is there, even have her arrested for trespassing. For some reason – small blessings – she hadn’t been bothered further as she scrambled to get out of what’s left of her town.

We wished Laura and her family well and Maria then took us up a rough road into the holler. We were going to visit one of three ancient cemeteries that were under threat from mining.

(CGZ blog post http://climategroundzero.org/2009/08/protecting-the-cook-family-cemeteries/)

The company builds fences and erects gates, using public safety as the justification for keeping people out of what had once been their common ground. In fact, for people to now visit any of these burial grounds, if they want to go lay some flowers on their grandparents’ grave or visit an ancestor’s final resting place, they must first undertake a safety training course (on their own dime), engage a company security guard to escort them (on their own dime), and wear hard hats and steel-toed boots which they must provide for themselves.

The cemetery we were heading for today was not available for visitation anymore and its future was in serious doubt. By law the company must provide a 100-ft buffer around such areas, but when Maria and others marked that off they found that their makers had been moved further inwards.

We made it up some treacherous road only to find that the company had moved the line once again, and before we could get to the site we had to turn around or risk arrest and the impoundment of Maria’s jeep. Something she said was assured and not something she could afford. So we turned around.

She took us through what was left of Lindytown – rows of empty houses, many of which had been looted and vandalized. Maria asserts that the coal company, Massey, that purchased the properties, opened up the materials to employees if “there was anything they would find useful.

Lindytown home that was vandalized

She showed us where less than a year ago children played and families made their home. She showed us where a woman died of a heart attack on the very day she was set to move from her home – her only home, where she had been born. She showed us the failed union hall – a sad statement in an industry-controlled area where unions have no presence, where workers get paid low wages and receive no benefits.

Used to be an underground coal mine would support up to 500 miners – which was good for the community, good for families, and better for the mountains. Non-union MTR employs as few as 19 miners per operation, and once the mountain has been dropped 800 or so feet, the operation closes up and moves on to the next site.

Maria then took us back to her house, passing a “We Support Coal” sign on the local grocery – a business she says serves many more miners than it does locals. Most locals aren’t coal supporters – most locals don’t work the mines. Most locals are suffering from poverty, poisoned water, and constant blasting and would be happy to see King Coal unseated. Maria has many friends locally.

Bob White Grocery - "We Support Coal"

Sometimes she gets chased by mine company employees trying to keep her from making her rounds of visiting sites and people affected by coal mining, and working to protect what’s under threat. She’s had to stop in at friends to switch cars so many times to throw off pursuit she can’t count how many its been. So far she’s been lucky – but she’s afraid of what would happen if she got caught out where there were no witnesses, where she was alone. But she doesn’t dwell on it.

Maria is a bright spirit who has a smile for everyone she meets. She’s gregarious and friendly and she tends to elicit smiles even from the coal miners she comes across at the gas station or convenience stores. Once at the grocery store a Massey employee, dressed in his work uniform, called out above the shoppers to affirm, “I work for Massey and I support Maria Gunnoe 110%!”

These are the kinds of things that show her that this battle can be won. Appalachia can support all sorts of economies, all kinds of industry, from tourism to herbalism to alternative energy. But it’s not going to happen until our government stops issuing the permits that allow the destruction to continue. It’s not going to happen until the Appalachian Restoration Act is made into law.

And it’s not going to happen while Don Blankenship and his ilk continue to hold sway in matters of politics and law enforcement in West Virginia.

But the day is coming when the blasting will stop and the mountains will be peaceful again. That day must come – and soon. The mountains can survive only so long while this assault continues with the support of State and Federal government.

You can find out more about Maria from this Google search, or by visiting the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition site.

JP Morgan Chase has survived the past year of turmoil in the financial sector and is now one of the strongest and largest financial institutions in the United States. But while JP Morgan Chase is a leader in the financial sector, they are no leader for the environment. JP Morgan Chase is one of the largest financiers of new coal fired power plants as well as mountaintop removal coal mining. In fact, JP Morgan Chase is one of a very few banks who are willing to finance Massey Energy – one of the most destructive and devastating MTR companies in Appalachia. Its time for JP Morgan Chase to show leadership and to stop their investments in MTR and new coal plants – now!

RAN activists in New York are working with the Sierra Club, the New York Action Network, New York PIRG, and the Waterkeeper Alliance to tell JP Morgan Chase to stop financing dirty coal – join us! If you live near New York City, contact Jeremy to get involved with weekly actions targeting JP Morgan Chase in their home city.

See you in the streets!

-Annie

We here at RAN are hoping that you can help us capitalize (no pun intended!) on the public focus on the banks this week to raise questions about another important and relevant consideration that hasn’t gotten much airtime in the current debate: What other risky behavior are the banks involved in, that threatens further economic calamity?

Many of the bailed-out banks are engaging in very risky investments, sinking billions of dollars in support of fossil-fuel intensive industries, such as coal and oil. Unlike Treasury Secretary Geithner, who reportedly resisted calls for more conditions on how banks spend the taxpayers’ money, we think that the release of additional public funds to these institutions should come with more strings attached. Or, at the very least, it should invite more public scrutiny of the banks’ other toxic investments.

The banks don’t really want to talk about their deep involvement in the climate crisis. But those risky and toxic investments (a) will undoubtedly face additional costs and regulation in the near future; and (b) are locking in an unsustainable infrastructure that will undermine the efforts to bring greenhouse gas emissions in line with scientific necessity. Furthermore, the banks, even while receiving a government hand-out, are taking actions that undermine the goals of a ‘green’ economic stimulus package. If Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, or any of these other banks provide financial support to mountain top removal coal companies, new coal-fired power plants, and tar sands pipelines, they are helping to lock in long-term dirty energy infrastructure, undermining other efforts to address the other pressing issue of our day: runaway greenhouse gas emissions and the threats to the global climate.

That’s why RAN’s Global Finance Campaign continues to press these banks to take responsibility for their role in fueling climate change, and to redirect their resources away from dirty energy sources and towards support for energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy resources such as solar and wind. It is unconscionable that wind and solar are taking a hit from the credit crisis, at precisely the time when we need to ramp up our national capacity to harness clean energy. We believe that the banks must account for and commit to reducing the carbon emissions that are embedded in their financial services portfolios, and help fund the future.

-Dana