Tag: Defund Climate Change

Rising Tide Chicago: Chase Bank Board Member Gets Climate Justice Wake Up Call

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cross-posted from Rising Tide Chicago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2021
Contact: Cailie Kafura, she/her pronouns, organizer, Rising Tide Chicago, cailiekafura@gmail.com, 715-938-1563
The day before the JP Morgan Chase Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Board Member James Crown awakens to activists calling him out for fossil fuel funding
CHICAGO, IL — Early this morning, activists from Rising Tide Chicago made a ruckus to awaken JPMorgan Chase Board member, James Crown, and neighbors, in their quiet Gold Coast neighborhood. James Crown is one of the bank’s executives responsible for allocating billions of dollars towards fossil fuel funding. This timely action comes one day prior to JPMorgan’s Annual Meeting for Shareholders. Activists unfurled a massive banner along the street in front of his home that stated, “James Crown Lets Chase Fund Climate Crisis”.
“The extractive industry is propped up by those who fund it, and those who fund it have names and addresses. Chase Bank’s executive James Crown has made the decision to invest in climate chaos and genocide, so we are making the decision to give him a wake up call.” – Cailie Kafura, organizer, Rising Tide Chicago (she/her pronouns)
The $317 billion Chase has poured into fossil fuels over the past four years has enabled pipeline construction that poisons Indigenous land and water, and increases sexual violence and murder of Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. Over the past decade, pipeline projects have been responsible for spilling 800,000 barrels of oil in the U.S., with more hazards anticipated in the future if these projects continue. Environmental and Indigenous groups have been protesting against pipeline projects for decades, raising concern for their impacts on communities, ecosystems, and the climate.
“Corporations, especially banks and the fossil fuel industry, have placed the majority of the burden on us to reduce our carbon footprint to help solve the climate crisis.  We are here today to hold these companies accountable and say no more. James Crown is in a position of power as a Chase board member and is therefore complicit in the destruction of our planet. We are here today to let him know that we are aware of his actions and to urge him to make future decisions based on planet over profit.” – Emily Murphy, organizer, Rising Tide Chicago (she/her pronouns)
Rising Tide Chicago uses direct action and education to confront the root causes of climate change, which include capitalism and white supremacy. Organizers target banks like Chase because without their funding, pipelines like Line 3 can’t be built. We urge readers to raise awareness and funds for the frontlines, and take action in solidarity with the Movement to Stop Line 3.

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St. Paul, MN: Grand Opening of New JPMorgan Chase Branch Disrupted by Climate Activists, Students

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cross-posted from Stop Line 3

Grand Opening of MN JPMorgan Chase Branch Disrupted by Climate Activists, Students 

World’s worst banker of climate change under fire for its massive financing of fossil fuels and Line 3 pipeline

Saint Paul –– As the newest Chase branch in Minnesota opened its doors for the first time, activists and students from Macalester College staged a rally and “die-in” in the lobby, demanding that the world’s worst banker of climate change defund fossil fuels. The action follows a blitz of demonstrations across the country this year targeting Chase Bank; from Chicago, to New York, to Seattle, to Los Angeles, to San Francisco.

“As a young person who will be inheriting this uncertain future, I know climate action is needed now,” said Andrew Vrabel Miles, a 23 year old senior at nearby Macalester College. “Chase bank, which is opening a branch right by my school, has taken no action to defund climate change by defunding fossil fuels and major fossil fuel infrastructure projects like the Line 3 pipeline. We demand Chase stop destroying our future!”

According to data from Rainforest Action Network’s Banking on Climate Change 2019 report, since the Paris Agreement, JPMorgan Chase has provided $196 billion in finance for fossil fuels. Chase is the world’s worst funder of fossil fuels and the world’s worst funder of fossil fuel expansion –– by a large margin. Additionally, Chase is one of several banks currently lending to three different active Enbridge pipeline-related loans, totaling approx. $5.4 billion.

“We are taking action today because Chase needs to be held accountable for its outsized role in
the climate crisis,” said Ethan Nuss with Rainforest Action Network. “Our very future is
contingent on an immediate end to the expansion of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure. We
won’t stop taking action until Chase takes real tangible action on climate.”

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Chicago: Indigenous & Climate Activists Disrupt Chase Meeting

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“Our Native communities bear the brunt of impacts from tar sands pipelines, like Line 3.” – Dallas Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network

JPMorgan Chase is banking on climate change and fossil fuels. We’re banking on fierce resistance to Big Oil, Big Coal and the Wall street banks funding them.

Today, Indigenous and climate activists converged at the JPMorgan Chase Tower in Chicago to disrupt the mega-banks annual shareholder meeting. JPMorgan Chase is the worst funder of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) in the world. Since the Paris climate talks in 2015, they’ve put almost $200 billion dollars into fossil fuels. (That’s right, $200 BILLION with a big “B.”)

wheat pastes in Chicago. courtesy of a guerrilla art crew.

The morning started with wheat paste posters put out along Chicago sidewalks outside the shareholder meeting with a clear message for Chase: “You’re the Worst!”

A delegation of Indigenous leaders and environmentalists entered into the meeting to directly confront Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon. Inside, they read him statements, facts from the “Banking on Climate Change” report, delivered a letter signed by over 300 civil society groups and then two activists were escorted out after chanting “Defund climate change, stop funding fossil fuels.”

Meanwhile outside over a hundred people gathered in protest of Chase’s investments in fossil fuels. Speakers from a variety of groups spokes, chants were chanted and signs, banners and beautiful art were put on display.

Then Indigenous leaders led the crowd to block the entrances of Chase Tower. They held the space, forcing Chicago police to move out of the way, while speakers continued to speak. Eventually they left with no arrests.

As Amelia Diehl from Rising Tide Chicago said “Chicago is at the epicenter of a dirty pipeline system, much of it funded by Chase Bank, and we are showing that resistance is more powerful than extractive industries. By funding pipelines that spill, Chase Bank is directly responsible for putting the water source of over 30 million people in the Great Lakes watershed region at risk.”

JPMorgan Chase is the worst funder toxic fossil fuels and destructive infrastructure projects. Communities are now rising up to hold them to account and shut down the flow of money into dirty energy.

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