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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org

Yet Another Global Bank Rejects Arctic Refuge Drilling

Lloyds Bank, second largest in the UK, will not fund Arctic oil and gas operations.

WASHINGTON

This morning, Lloyds Bank, the second largest bank in the UK, released an updated energy policy that rules out financing for oil and gas operations in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The policy update adds Lloyds to the growing list of major financial institutions that are rejecting drilling in the Arctic region, including the Arctic Refuge, along with Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and more than a dozen global banks.

The Trump administration missed its goal of holding a lease sale to sell off the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge by the end of 2019, but continues to push to hold one this year.

In response, Sierra Club campaign representative Ben Cushing released the following statement:

"The Trump administration hasn't given up its push to auction off the Arctic Refuge, but a growing number of major financial institutions are sending a clear message that oil companies should think twice before bidding. Drilling in the Arctic Refuge would be a disaster for wildlife, the climate, and the human rights of the Gwich'in Nation, and any company associated with this destruction will suffer long-lasting damage to their reputation. Momentum is growing in the financial sector to reject this toxic investment, and Lloyds certainly won't be the last major bank to do so."

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