Author: Guest Contributor

For Immediate Release:

October 23, 2007

Rainforest Action Network accuses financial giant of destroying Appalachian communities, environment

SAN FRANCISCO – Activists with Rainforest Action Network’s (RAN) Global Finance Campaign draped a 50-foot banner reading “Bank of America: Funding Coal, Killing Communities” across the street from Bank of America’s downtown Charlotte, N.C., headquarters this morning. The group is urging the financial giant to stop funding mountaintop removal coal mining and the construction of new coal-fired power plants.

A highly destructive method of coal extraction, mountaintop removal involves exploding the tops off of mountains to reach the coal within and dumping the rubble in adjoining valleys – choking streams and increasing flood risks for local communities. Bank of America has invested billions of dollars in companies that practice mountaintop removal in the Appalachian region, including Massey Energy, Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources. These companies are responsible for the loss of millions of acres of forests and mountains and the decimation of communities throughout Appalachia.

“Mountaintop removal and dirty coal plants have no place in our modern economy,” said Rebecca Tarbotton, director of RAN’s Global Finance Campaign. “Mountaintop removal flattens mountain ranges and transforms healthy mountain woodlands into toxic sludge and rubble that clogs mountain streams. Communities throughout Appalachia are being devastated by this shameful practice. If Bank of America and other financial institutions would shift their investments from coal to renewable energies such as wind and solar power, we could meet all our energy demands by mid-century without using any coal at all.”

“Here in West Virginia, coal companies are using 3 1/2 millions pounds of explosives a day to bomb our homes and mountains,” said Julia ‘Judy’ Bonds, founder of Coal River Mountain Watch. “They are poisoning our water and our air. I want Bank of America to realize that when it funds coal companies, it is ruining lives and killing our communities.”

More than 150 new coal-fired power plants are currently being planned throughout the U.S. at a projected cost of $125 billion. These plants will emit millions of tons of carbon dioxide and other dangerous toxins, such as mercury, into the atmosphere annually. RAN is urging banks to follow the recommendations of NASA’s chief climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, who has called for a moratorium on all new coal-fired power plants. A United Nations scientific panel tasked with studying the issue also warned against further development and construction of conventional coal-fired power plants.

For more information, visit www.DirtyMoney.org.

by Bernie Woodall

LOS ANGELES – Opponents of coal-fired power plants say they were given a new weapon last week when Kansas became the first state to reject a coal-fired power plant solely on the basis of the health risks created by carbon dioxide emissions.

A dozen states have rejected plans for 22 new coal-fired power projects in the past year-and-a-half, mainly because of concerns over carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Kansas does not regulate carbon emissions and is believed to be the first state to tie CO2 to health risks and use that as the only stated reason for denying a required air permit, said Bruce Nilles of the Sierra Club.

Growing public awareness of climate change and the unknown cost of mitigating CO2 if and when a national carbon cap-and-trade system is established have forced regulators and utilities to rethink a planned boom for coal plants.

“Today, the political climate has changed. There is a lot more activism and with all the uncertainties around carbon regulation, we’re seeing a real slowdown in the building of coal plants,” said Bill Durbin, head of global gas and power research at consultant Wood Mackenzie. Continue reading

BP Executive Pied as Europe’s Largest Biofuels Event Disrupted

From: http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/5205

Date: 17th October, 2007
Embargo: Immediate Release
CONTACT: 07880 937 511
Newark Showground, Newark, Nottinghamshire

This morning a group of 15 climate change activists from protest group Food Not Fuel entered the BioFuel Expo & Conference taking place at the Newark Showground and took over the keynote speech. Oliver Mace, CEO of BP Fuels, the lead sponsors of the event received a cream pie in the face. Another campaigner was D-locked to the podium and various alarms were placed around the place. The hall was emptied and talks were cancelled. There were no arrests.

They were protesting against planned expansion of biofuels citing its contribution to deforestation and the fact that it will continue to contribute to climate change. The activists complained that biofuels on a large scale is greenwash and companies such as BP are ignoring its negative impacts on the environment.

Protester Michelle Lynch said, “What they are promoting is a replacement to fossil fuels, but the reality is that they are little better. Large scale plantations are not the solution; reducing our consumption is the only realistic way forward.”

Continue reading