Oganizers and environmental activists invaded Chase bank locations across Seattle May 8 to protest the stake held by the bank’s parent company, J.P. Morgan Chase, in an pipeline meant to transfer Canadian oil.
The protest, coordinated by 350 Seattle and local Native American activists, targeted Chase as one of two large banks putting together the $5 billion in financing for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which is planned to run from the Alberta tar sands in northern Canada to Steele City, Nebraska.
Opponents of the pipeline note that extracting oil from tar sands is one of the dirtiest ways to gather fossil fuels, compounding the negative climate impacts of burning additional oil with the energy required to remove fuel from the sands and the byproducts of the process.
The Seattle City Council voted in February to get city funds out of banks and other businesses that engage in socially irresponsible business practices. The measure targeted the city’s banking relationship with Wells Fargo, which, in addition to funding the Dakota Access Pipeline, had also recently been caught in a scandal where employees created fake bank accounts for customers.
Ashley Archibald is a Staff Reporter covering local government, policy and equity. Have a story idea? She can be can reached at ashleya (at) realchangenews (dot) org. Twitter @AshleyA_RC
Read our full May 10 issue.
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