Tag: St Paul

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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Statement On Police Murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

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BLMRising Tide North America Statement On Police Murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

San Francisco, CA: Once again with heavy hearts Rising Tide North America released this statement on the police murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile:

“Rising Tide North America stands in solidarity with the friends and loved ones of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile,both murdered, respectively, by racist police departments in Baton Rouge, La and St. Paul, Mn.

We condemn the actions of the white officers who committed these horrible acts and the racist police state which systematically destroys the lives of black men, their families and communities of color across the country. We condemn the rhetoric of leaders in both political parties, police officials and media opinion-makers who normalize and defend this system.

We demand justice for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Rising Tide North America is a continental network of climate justice groups and individuals committed to challenging the root causes of climate change, including capitalism and institutional racism. We stand for social, racial, environmental and climate justice. We are committed to working with and alongside frontline communities.

We can only address climate change by exposing the intersections between the oppression of humans, communities and the planet. In order to create a livable and just future for all, we work toward the empowerment of marginalized communities and the dismantling of the systems of oppression that keep us divided.

In this moment, we call on our friends and community in the climate justice movement to join the fight for racial justice and confront white supremacy. As we’ve said before: Our fight for climate justice is inextricably connected with racial justice. We cannot have the one without the other.  

We demand justice for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile!”

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