ROCK CLIMBING & CAVING

Big Banks Do Not Like Wanting To Fund Mountaintop Removal Mining

Banks are starting to have second thoughts about making loans to businesses that destroy the environment. Banks have made huge profits financing destructive industries for instance mountaintop removal mining. Environmental groups and court decisions have worked together to make that change. Banking companies are held to the financing they do for environment destruction companies such as this. Financial institutions are trying to keep business by quitting all lending to corporations with environmental risk.

Banks reconsider lending for environmental destruction

It isn’t that hard for a Mountaintop removal mining business to get its cash. Credit is one thing banking institutions are considering more intensely as to where it will go. This means that climate change and other environmental issues for instance water quality standards are making the lending decision for banks harder, says the New York Times. Wells Fargo thinks that mountaintop removal mining has received “considerable attention and controversy” for the company. It described mountaintop mining company financing as “limited and declining.” Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Financial institution of America and Citibank have all made the exact same decision Wells Fargo is making. The banks have all decided mountaintop mining corporations aren’t places to lend to, or will have special consideration.

Purchase cheap coal with mountaintop removal mining

On Monday, environmentalists from the Appalachian region implored the Obama administration to outlaw mountaintop mining. The Associated Press reports that the group announced it will hold a rally in Washington Sept. 27 and invited the president to attend. To get coal via mountaintop removal mining, forests are clear-cut first. They have to use explosives then. This is to break huge rock. Next you have to have a special machine to scoop up 800 feet of mountaintop, however the machine has to be 8 stories high. Coal will be shown then. The valleys are in for a surprise when all the extra dirt is dumped in them. This hurts the wildlife and covers up fresh streams. This may be the cheapest way to get coal which gives tens of thousands of jobs to the economy, operators say. The Appalachian coal industry is hoping no to lose numerous jobs with this. It plans to have a rally in Washington on September 15 to show its support for coal.

Making these loans great for other banks

The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has wanted to stop financing for mountaintop removal mining via banking companies since 2007. Organicconsumers.org reports the group’s efforts have helped persuade the top four banking companies in the country to back away from Massey Energy, a leading mountaintop mining business based upon in West Virginia. Massey Energy was involved in a mine explosion in April. This was the, Upper Big Branch mine, explosion that killed 29 miners. But other banks have been eager to fill the financing void left behind. According to Bloomberg data, PNC and UBS are at the moment the lead financiers of mountaintop removal mining. PNC is responsible for a ton of coal being used within the United States of America In fact, half of coal from mountaintop mining is financed by PNC.

Discover more info on this subject

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/08/31/business/energy-environment/31coal.html?_r=1 and dbk

Associated Press

google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iRFjIvp7yDpMnistp_aolQIRAj_QD9HTVS4O0

Organic Consumers

organicconsumers.org/articles/article_21396.cfm

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