Bank of America announced plans to host its Annual shareholder’s meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 8 amid strong opposition to the bank’s ongoing funding of the coal industry, the leading contributor to climate change pollution in the U.S. While the Charlotte-based bank invests heavily in strategies to bolster its green public image, it remains the top financier of the failing U.S. coal industry.
In response to the announcement, Amanda Starbuck, Director of the Energy and Finance Program at Rainforest Action Network issued the following statement:
“Rainforest Action Network (RAN) plans to attend Bank of America’s shareholder meeting with representatives from across the U.S. and around the world directly impacted by the bank’s massive coal investments. We will be there to ensure that the bank’s Board of Directors, shareholders and senior management hear about this dirty side of the bank’s business.
“Rainforest Action Network will also present a resolution on the floor of the shareholder meeting that addresses the bank’s financing of carbon emissions, the leading cause of deadly global warming pollution. Investment managers, medical professionals and faith leaders will also testify to the impacts of coal finance and the increasing risk exposure coal lending presents to investors.
“Bank of America continues to prop up the dying coal industry with billions in financing each year, offering a lasting legacy of polluted air, contaminated water and accelerating climate change for our planet. Now is the time for the bank to take the right step forward and phase out funding for dirty coal–and shift financing toward a brighter future.
“What better city for the Bank of Coal to headquarter its operations and host its annual shareholder meeting than Charlotte, a city surrounded by a ring of five dirty coal-fired power plants? Charlotte ranks one of the worst cities in the U.S. for air quality and coal pollution is the top source of global warming emissions in the country.”
Read more: Coal and Climate on the Table for BofA in 2013 | Rainforest Action Network http://ran.org/coal-and-climate-table-bofa-2013#ixzz2PZFMe76L
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