National Coal Day of Action in Over 50 Cities, Anti-Coal Movement on Rise

Rainforest
Action Network (RAN) has recruited thousands of activists in more than
50 cities across the U.S. to protest Citi and Bank of America's coal
investments in a mass demonstration against coal and coal finance that
will take place Nov. 14-15.

RAN and the thousands of citizens who plan to participate in the Day of
Action are demanding that the top financiers of the coal industry, Citi
and Bank of America, lead the transition to a 21st-century clean energy
economy that will put people to work and avert catastrophic climate
change.

"The science is clear: a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants, and
phase-out of existing coal plants, is essential if we want to preserve
creation, the life on our planet, for young people and future
generations," said James Hansen, the nation's leading climate
scientist, in promoting the Day of Action.

The National Day of Action - organized by RAN, Rising Tide North
America, Greenpeace and others - will feature marches, flyering at
local bank branches, creative street theater, and non-violent direct
actions at bank offices. Cities where actions will take place include
Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Houston,
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and St. Louis.

"Investments made today by the world's leading financial institutions
will shape our climate and economy for decades to come," said Rebecca
Tarbotton, director of RAN's Global Finance Campaign. "Just as risky
bank investments mortgaged the economic future of millions of American
families, gambling on coal will mortgage our climate unless banks
immediately start funding renewable energies rather than dirty fossil
fuels."

Coal is responsible for nearly 40 percent of America's global warming
emissions. Citi is the nation's largest coal financier, providing
financial support to 45 companies that have proposed new coal power
plants. Currently, 110 coal plants are still slated for development in
the United States.

Bank of America is involved with eight of the U.S's top mountaintop
removal coal-mining operators, which collectively produce more than 250
million tons of coal each year. Mountaintop removal flattens mountain
ranges and transforms healthy mountain woodlands into toxic sludge that
has clogged more than 700 miles of rivers and streams. The practice is
a major threat to the existence of many Appalachian communities.

"Citi and Bank of America are the ATMs of the coal industry," said
Lauren Valle, an organizer of the New York actions. "I am participating
in this Day of Action to tell Citi and Bank of America that their
destructive investments are threatening our homes, our savings, and our
climate. These banks must take responsibility for the social and
environmental impacts of their financing."

Four years ago, environmentalists in the U.S. raised concerns over
plans to build 150 coal-fired power stations nationwide. Today, the
growing national coal movement has defeated dozens of these plans and
is actively opposing the rest. While Al Gore has called for young
people to participate in civil disobedience to prevent the construction
of new coal-fired power plants, urban and rural communities are
demonstrating that it is a moral imperative to stop climate-killing
coal plants in their tracks.

For more information, visit www.dirtymoney.org