CHICAGO - At 1:00pm today local environmental

activists attached a banner to the JP Morgan

Chase headquarters (10 S. Dearborn) criticizing

the bank's role in funding mountaintop removal,

the process of extracting coal by literally

blasting the tops off of mountains. The 12' x 3'

banner, which displayed the Chase logo with the

words “Financing Dirty Energy,” was created by

members of Chicago Rainforest Action Network (RAN).


Chase is the largest financier of mountaintop

removal coal mining in the U.S. Members of RAN

contend that this practice is not only

environmentally destructive but also perpetuates

the use of dirty energy sources at a time when

Americans demand a shift to clean, renewable

energy and more green jobs. “Mountaintop removal

is the worst social and environmental atrocity

our country has ever seen,” noted Parson Brown,

member of the mountain defense group Topless

America. “Over 520 mountains have been destroyed

and more than 1,500 miles of headwater streams

have been poisoned.” Meanwhile, the use of coal

is the United States' single largest contribution

to global climate change.

Today's banner drop adds just one more action to

RAN's broader campaign to raise public awareness

and pressure Chase to cease funding mountaintop

removal. The ongoing campaign includes delivering

letters to Chase branches throughout Chicagoland,

educating Chase customers and employees,

distributing stickers, and writing chalk messages

on sidewalks and other publicly visible areas.

Climate change has drawn increasing attention in

Chicago recently with a Climate Action march and

rally this past October and a demonstration

against the Chicago Climate Exchange in November.

RAN promises to increase its pressure on Chase

until they divest from mountaintop removal.