Friends,
This week, we have a chance to deliver a $1.5 billion blow to one of the nastiest oil and gas corporations out there — TransCanada.
You've probably heard the name before. TransCanada is the company behind the infamous Keystone XL pipeline, a massive project that would pump a climate-wrecking 900,0001 barrels of oil a day — poisoning countless communities, including Indigenous nations.
TransCanada is a company that's enriched itself on climate change, pollution, and trampling Indigenous sovereignty. And it's time for us to stop them — by cutting off their funding.
This Friday, JPMorgan Chase will decide whether or not to renew a $1.5 billion loan to TransCanada. Can you send an email to JPMorgan Chase's executives, including CEO Jamie Dimon, demanding that they stop funding climate wrecking fossil fuel companies?
JPMorgan Chase is the largest funder of fossil fuels on Wall Street. In 2017, they even increased their funding of tar sands companies by 400%.2 Massive infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL pipeline depend almost entirely on loans from major financial institutions. By cutting off the flow of cash, we can cut off the flow of oil and gas.3
We know what motivates big financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase — profit and publicity. Last year, activists and community members across the country (including some of you reading this now) got the World Bank to end financial support for oil and gas4 extraction after a sustained campaign of pressure and shame. This strategy has worked before, and it can work again here.
People have already been fighting JPMorgan Chase tooth and nail from coast to coast for over a year. These days, CEO Jamie Dimon can't go anywhere in public without being confronted by activists.5 Let's keep up the pressure.
Part of the strategy of driving the fossil fuel industry out of existence involves making them unwelcome at all financial institutions. By raising our voices as one, we can show JPMorgan Chase that the consequences of backing companies like TransCanada and Enbridge far outweigh any short term potential profits.
If JPMorgan Chase backs out of funding fossil fuels, it will send a powerful message to financial institutions worldwide that the time to pull out of the fossil fuel industry is now. We have the power to bring oil, coal, and gas billionaires to their knees, but only if we take action. Let's seize the moment.
Onward,
Alec Connon - 350Seattle
1 - Keystone XL pipeline, Bank Track
2 - Extreme Fossil Fuel Investments Have Surged Under Donald Trump, The Guardian
3 - To Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, We Need to Stop the Flow of Dollars, The Stranger
4 - World Bank to end financial support for oil and gas extraction, The Guardian
5 - Wherever Dimon Goes, Activists Turn His Speeches into Spectacles, Bloomberg
350.org is building a global climate movement. You can connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and text 350 to 83224 to get important mobile action alerts. Become a sustaining donor to keep this movement strong and growing. Looking for other ways to get involved? Check out our map to see if there's a local 350 group or event near you.
You can update your contact information, location, or language here, or if you're 100% sure you never want to hear from 350.org again you can click here to unsubscribe.
No comments:
Post a Comment