Coal is the largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions both nationally and globally. The industry’s annual creation of over 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide largely contributes to the acceleration of climate change. Furthermore, the American Lung Association points to coal-firing power plants as the main source of air pollution that facilitates asthma and lung cancer. These power plants are among the largest sources of toxic mercury pollution and radioactive waste. Even still, companies such as Bank of America support and plan to finance the construction of over a hundred new coal plants nationwide. The additional impact of the carbon dioxide potentially released by these plants could be devastating to an already fragile ecosystem.
Bank of America also finances companies that practice mountaintop removal coal mining. This method is very destructive: Instead of coal being mined from the mountain, it is exposed as the top of the mountain is removed explosively. Over 450 mountains in Appalachia have already been flattened this way at the hands of these companies, creating a struggle for local communities as their main sources of drinking water are polluted.
As a result, many have called for an end to new coal development. In 2007, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis pledged support to an environmental initiative to address global climate change. Currently, however, the company falls far short of these claims, continuing to spend almost 100 times as much on “dirty” coal rather than new “clean” coal technology. As it is among the largest of the coal financiers, Bank of America has been a huge target of the environmental movement.
As a result, the AC-REC, a group devoted to the pursuit of responsible investment, targeted Bank of America in their quest to encourage colleges and companies to invest their money with ethical, environmental and social issues in mind. At the protest, students urged passers-by to sign a petition asking Lewis to end funding of the coal industry and instead invest savings in clean sources of energy. They also provided information on how customers can more responsibly invest their money elsewhere, such as at the University of Massachusetts Five College Federal Credit Union.
Over 100 signatures were collected during the three-hour protest, and many more people took information about the dangers of the coal industry and alternative investment options. Students from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hampshire College also came to add their support. Some students, however, were skeptical about the campaign’s success. Romain Cames ’09 explained that “It’s Amherst, Massachusetts. It’s not Kabul, Afghanistan. I guess people are more willing to listen to what we had to say than they would be in many other places, but we still had one or two cases when they told us that we were talking nonsense.”
According to Joe Bobman ’12, the protest was an overall success considering the weather and marks just the beginning of AC-REC’s active support for this cause. “In the future, we’d like to see the Credit Union table [in Keefe Campus Center] in the beginning of the year to offer students a place to open an account, like Bank of America does now.” In addition to appealing to the students themselves, the group will continue to work toward responsible investment for the college and local businesses.