Scores of Seattle Residents Shut Down 2nd Avenue to Demand That JPMorgan Chase Stop Funding Fossil Fuels

Scores of Seattle residents have completely shut down 2nd Avenue outside of JPMorgan Chase's Pacific Northwest Headquarters to demand that JPMorgan Chase stop funding the fossil fuel industry.

All three lanes of 2nd Avenue are currently closed. A large Chase bank branch and an oil pipeline (with mock oil gushing out) are currently occupying all three lanes. Three people are locked to the top of three large tripod and "tarpee" structures. Over 100 people are standing on 2nd Avenue, holding a 100-foot long banner that reads: Chase Funds Climate Disaster. Meanwhile, three smaller 24-foot banners over the street read "Protect the Salish Sea", "Break Free From Fossil Fuels", and "Move Your Money".

Protestors say they will not leave until Chase commits to stopping the funding of fossil fuels.

What: Mass "Stop the Money Pipeline" Protest at JPMorgan Chase PNW - HQ
When: 2nd Ave, Russell Investment Center, 1301 2nd Ave, Seattle
When: Now

"Time is running out to tackle the climate crisis," said 350 Seattle's Alec Connon. "In recent months, an estimated one billion animals have been killed in Australian wildfires. This is what the climate crisis looks like. We are here to send a clear and unequivocal message to JPMorgan Chase's leadership: Funding the fossil fuel industry is morally reprehensible."

JPMorgan Chase is the world's largest funder of fossil fuels. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in late 2015, Chase has loaned over $195 billion to fossil fuel companies, including companies that are building new coal mines, new tar sands pipelines, and new fracked gas export terminals that are incompatible with curtailing catastrophic climate change.

Chase is also the primary funder of TC Energy, the corporation that is currently removing Wet'suwet'en people from their own land in an attempt to ram through a massive fracked gas pipeline, despite powerful public opposition in northern British Columbia. "In an era where Antarctica hit an all time record high of 70 degrees and there were unstoppable wildfires in Australia, Chase Bank continues to be the largest investor in tar sands and fossil fuel projects such as the Coastal Gas Link Pipeline, which is causing the militarized invasion of the Wet'suwet'en nation's unceded lands. Our indigenous families and allies are rising up around the world demanding climate justice from corporations and governments. We will continue to protect the sacred with bold direct actions to help bring on a livable future for all the children of Mother Earth and all of her sacred beings," said Paul Chiyokten Wagner of Protectors of the Salish Sea.

Today's action in Seattle is being carried out as a part of the national #StopTheMoneyPipeline campaign, a major new campaign of nearly 100 organizations that is calling on Wall Street companies like JPMorgan Chase and Liberty Mutual to immediately stop doing business with the fossil fuel industry

"The fossil fuel industry can't do business without major loans from banks, insurance from insurance companies, and support from its major investors," said Elana Sulakshana, Energy Finance Campaigner with Rainforest Action Network. "Stop the Money Pipeline is here to hold these financial enablers of the climate crisis accountable."

Last week, the UK's fourth largest bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, announced that it would stop doing business with allcoal, oil and gas companies that don't have a "transition plan" to align their business models with the Paris Agreement goal in place by 2021.