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Environmentalist group protests Bank of America

monsoon

By monsoon
in Charlotte

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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To add to the Bank's woes apparently an environmentalist group has used some construction cranes to hang a huge banner from a construction crane that claims that Bank of America is unfriendly to the environment. (profits over being a good corporate citizen) This is similar to protests about the bank catering to illegal aliens. Some people are hanging off the cranes apparently.

The banner states "Bank of America, Funding Coal, Killing Communities."

If anything it's going to be disruptive to downtown commuting this morning as the entire area is full of police and firefighters.

Hopefully one of you guys gets a photo of the banner before they send the shock troops down there to remove the protestors

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sfmartin Whistle-Stop

sfmartin

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To add to the Bank's woes apparently an environmentalist group has used some construction cranes to hang a huge banner from the Bank in downtown accusing the Bank of being unfriendly to the environment. (profits over being a good corporate citizen) This is similar to protests about the bank catering to illegal aliens.

If anything it's going to be disruptive to downtown commuting this morning.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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The protest, it appears, is related to this. The group accuses BofA of being negligent in matters concerning global warming because of its investments in and lending to the coal industry which is blamed of creating much of the greenhouse gases on the planet. They claim the bank should show more responsibility towards the citizens of the country.

It's actually a bit refreshing to see something like this in the City of Charlotte to remind people the is more to life than the pursuit of money and wretched consumption, at the expense of almost everything else.

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voyager12 Town

voyager12

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How very Asheville of us. This group or a similar one staged a similar action there a month or so ago. In that instance several were dressed up as canaries ( ie canaries in a coal mine ). Most protested peacefully in Pritchard Park. A few ran into the BOA branch across from the park in downtown Asheville and chained themselves to sofas inside. I love activism and while the protestors methods this AM were unsafe and illegal the whole point of non-violent direct action is to cause disruption to garner attention and they definitely succeeded.

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swh1972 Hamlet

swh1972

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Shouldn't activism educate the public about the issue? This does nothing close to bringing the issue to light for the general public. BAC probably invests or loans money to every industry out there. The fact that the Coal industry is among them should be no surprise to anyone. This is just the actions of a few misguided individuals. Good thing no one was hurt trying to take the sign down.

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voyager12 Town

voyager12

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It comes down to weighing what one believes the greater good is and what rules one is willing to break to get a point across. From these people's perspective breaking trespassing laws is negligble compared to the destruction that coal enabled industry is doing to the environment. Protesting on a street corner would have been the safe and legal option but they wanted to cause a bigger distraction. I don't put these people in the same category as ELF. Also, I thought these sites were more secured and surrounded by some kind temporary fence or wiring. Guess I was wrong and it's just open to anybody.

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cinco Burg

cinco

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yes, it's illegal. it's also not the way i would go about making a point, but, i can't help to have a little admiration for radical activism. if someone wants to risk their lives and accept the financial and other penalties for a cause that they feel (obviously) strong about - then so be it. let's face it... of all the illegal activities one could participate in - tresspassing is pretty low on the pole of illegality. this particular protest would still be deemed peaceful... albeit extremely risky.

as for educating... i personally was unaware of that BofA is a top underwriter for coal mining in this country - however, i'm not shocked. i also went to the rainforest action network's website and read accounts of what problems some communities are experiencing b/c of the mining - that is supported by citibank and bofa. it is often extremely hard to hear their voices over the voice of institutions like bofa - without radical activisim. the problem is that most will scoff @ the issues they have - as "crazy hippies" and little will be done about the real issue. imo, the best case scenario for these protestors is that bofa may feel that the bad association isn't worth it and decide to not do business with the companies in question. i doubt that will happen and there will just be other financiers waiting in the wings.

it would truly take alot of public outcry and political push to change the situation. i guess this group feels this is the way to go about - even though i'd question that tactic.

to me, the more disturbing lesson here is the security (lack of) - that enabled a group to pull off their protest.

protest.jpg
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hueion39 Whistle-Stop

hueion39

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I'm in Grad School in Boston. I've seen my fair share of protest, legal and illegal. The ones that actually make an impact are those that try to influence opinion and affect change. Sure, headlines are great but derail the actual focus of the protest. I've yet to discuss the merits of BofA, only the foolishness of this spectacle.

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Windsurfer Burg

Windsurfer

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I'm in Grad School in Boston. I've seen my fair share of protest, legal and illegal. The ones that actually make an impact are those that try to influence opinion and affect change. Sure, headlines are great but derail the actual focus of the protest. I've yet to discuss the merits of BofA, only the foolishness of this spectacle.
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elvigy Whistle-Stop

elvigy

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I'm in Grad School in Boston. I've seen my fair share of protest, legal and illegal. The ones that actually make an impact are those that try to influence opinion and affect change. Sure, headlines are great but derail the actual focus of the protest. I've yet to discuss the merits of BofA, only the foolishness of this spectacle.
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Miesian Corners City

Miesian Corners

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I'm not sure why y'all are so surprised they were able to do this. Have you been to the airport? Security is nothing more than a smokescreen-like way of making the public feel like its protected. Kind of like making flight crews go through security because they are seen by the flying public, but baggage handlers, mechanics, and aircraft cleaners swipe a badge and their on their way and have unencumbered access to every part of an airport. You can't get a bottle of shampoo on the flight, but you can check most anything knowing most likely no one is EVER going to discover it.

As far as the Rainforest Action Network is concerned, did they miss the Duke Energy HQ down the street? Or that millions of Americans leave their lights on and gobble up electricity made from coal? That Bif and Muffy are hauling little Madison around suburbia in the Escalade? Everyone has coal dust on their hands, not just Bank of America. I am by no means taking up for the bank by such lending practices, but this is a little ridiculous.

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hueion39 Whistle-Stop

hueion39

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The first step for an activist group is to make people aware of the issue, which they've probably succeeded in doing. Call it foolish if you like, but they acheived their goal. As some above have said, they didn't even know about BoA and coal mining. So to that end, headlines are great.
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voyager12 Town

voyager12

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It's a massive stretch to compare this activity to abortion clinic bombings. If these people had vandalized or attacked BOA institutions or employees it would be a completely different discussion. I think we all agree that this was improper behavior but it's hardly domestic terrorism.

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hueion39 Whistle-Stop

hueion39

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It's a massive stretch to compare this activity to abortion clinic bombings. If these people had vandalized or attacked BOA institutions or employees it would be a completely different discussion. I think we all agree that this was improper behavior but it's hardly domestic terrorism.
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cinco Burg

cinco

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i just read the blog ( http://understory.ran.org/ ) on the rainforest action network's website, about the charlotte event. it appears the planned protest was intended to coincide with duke energy's public hearing on their plans for coal fired power plants - that will be taking place today in raleigh.

the more i'm informed - the more i appreciate their cause.

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