Wall street is bending to pressure to halt Arctic-oil loans

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg Green

Highlights

Environmental activists are fighting oil companies to keep drilling out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by putting divestment pressure on banks.

• Tribal representatives and other environmental activists pressed banking executives about their policies during shareholder meetings and in conversations with sustainability directors
• Morgan Stanley has announced that they will not be financing arctic oil and gas development, becoming the fifth major U.S. bank to announce it will no longer support drilling in the arctic
• Many large banks have made the same promise, with Bank of America being a major holdout 
• Though the Interior Department is preparing to sell drilling rights along the arctic coast, the lack of infrastructure makes it hard to locate crude oil, making potential investors have second thoughts
• Potential drilling could have dire impacts on native wildlife
• Alison Kirsch, the lead researcher in the Rainforest Action Network’s Climate and Energy Program, says that by cutting off funding, these drilling projects can’t continue:

“A fossil fuel project needs three things to go ahead…It needs government approval– or a permit– but it also needs capital and it also needs insurance. And those last two pieces mostly happen in the private sector. So if you can intervene there, you can stop projects.”

• Promises by these banks to divest in individual projects does not prohibit the banks from lending to these companies altogether

Fossil fuel divestment and the transition to 100% clean energy is a major step towards achieving The Climate Center’s Climate-Safe California Platform.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-24/wall-street-is-bending-to-pressure-to-halt-arctic-drilling-loans

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Nina Turner

Nina is a graduate of the Energy Management and Design program at Sonoma State University. She has experience in non-profits that specialize in sustainability and volunteerism. Nina is currently the Energy Program Coordinator and produces the bi-weekly Clean Power Exchange newsletter.

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