New UBS Policy Fizzles

‘Tis the season for new bank environmental and social policies! Last Friday, UBS was the latest to announce an updated “Responsible Banking” policy. Let’s see how it stacks up. First off, we have to commend UBS and other banks for choosing to make environmental and social commitments public. Transparency is a critically necessary component of [...]

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Goodbye Massey and Thanks For Nothing

After months of speculation, Massey Energy, the most controversial coal mining company in the USA, is no more. On Saturday Alpha Natural Resources announced that it had bought out the company in a deal worth $8.5 billion. That’s a high price for the stock – metallurgical coal looks lucrative to short-sighted investors as the competing [...]

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Manchin Doesn’t Care About DADT Or Mountains

Joe Manchin is off to a poor start as the new Senator for West Virginia. Many of his constituents are furious he skipped out on the Senate’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) repeal vote on Saturday in order to attend a Christmas party. Meanwhile, he still finds time for pointless posturing on behalf of the [...]

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PNC: Are You In This For The Long Run?

Our friends at the Earth Quaker Action Team in Philadelphia staged a marathon-themed protest at PNC bank last month, shortly after the bank announced a public policy on financing mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Like RAN, EQAT felt this was a positive move, but that PNC needs to go further and completely pull their financing [...]

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5 Better Ways Massey Could Spend Blankenship’s Golden Parachute

Just announced — Don Blankenship is set to receive a $12 million “F*** Off” package from Massey Energy. It must be very disappointing for Don, as last year he took home $18 million in salary and bonuses, the highest paid man in the coal business. Here are my thoughts about how Massey could spend that [...]

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The PNC Four Go Free

Last month RAN organized a protest inside PNC Bank’s Washington DC branch in coalition with the Earth Quaker Action Team, RAN Chicago and Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping. We wanted to draw attention to PNC’s role in financing mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining in Appalachia and put pressure on the bank [...]

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Breaking: UBS Eighth Bank To Slow Financing Of MTR

More good news for our global finance campaign – this week Swiss banking giant UBS issued a public statement highlighting the regulatory and reputational concerns around mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining in Appalachia. UBS is the eighth bank to do this! Significantly, UBS has been the biggest funder of MTR coal mining, including the worst of [...]

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Another Big Bank Turns Away from Mountaintop Removal!

I’m saying ‘Thank you’ this week to PNC bank — which has just released its public position on Mountaintop Removal (MTR) Coal Mining. Here’s PNC’s policy in full — and a key extract: MTR is the subject of increasing regulatory and legislative scrutiny, with a focus on the permitting of MTR mines. While this extraction [...]

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Politicians Hooked On Coal

The coal industry in the United States is in a precarious position these days. Upcoming EPA regulations could force hundreds of small coal-fired power plants to shut down and would reduce demand for coal generation significantly over the next few years. Appalachian communities have built a strong movement against the devastating practice of mountaintop removal [...]

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Mountain Justice Fall Summit on Kayford Mountain

After a successful mobilization a few weeks ago in Washington D.C., the mountain justice movement is meeting again this weekend for Mountain Justice Fall Summit on Kayford Mountain, West Virginia. Kayford is the home of anti-MTR activist Larry Gibson. Expect lots of good stuff to be happening at Kayford this weekend. Mountain Justice Fall Summit [...]

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