Hi everyone!
Today is a Day of Action against the forces behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)! One primary objective is to defund the project by publicly removing money from the banks supporting the pipeline. Visit #NoDaplSolidarity for more info.
For my part, I just wrote to the CEO and Board of Investors for my bank, informing them that I’ll be taking my business elsewhere because I’m sickened by the fact that they have invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline and have made no moves away from this investment in the wake of the horrific violence that police and private security have visited upon prayerful water protectors. I’m rather proud of the letter I wrote, and I thought I’d offer the full text here for others to use (it’s copied below). There are seventeen major banks with heavy investments in the pipeline, and it’s very likely that yours is one of them.
I encourage you to take your money away from these monsters and hie thee to a local, community-oriented credit union as soon as you can. The oil companies might not care about us private citizens, but the banks might. They need our money to survive. Find out if your bank is involved here, and feel free to copy and paste my letter (making your own modifications, of course) if you want to do the same thing I’m doing!
There are also lots of government officials you can call about the ongoing violence being enacted against water protectors and sacred land. (As of last night, reports from the camp indicated that a burial site just across the river from the camp was being drilled through.) Check out this article for phone numbers, and read my recent article for lots of links to donation sites and more info.
Dear ____:
I wanted to let you know that this week my partner and I will be removing our money from ___. We currently have numerous checking, savings, and business accounts, as well as several credit cards, with your bank. We have always enjoyed banking with you, as the staff at our local branch is very friendly.
However, it has come to our attention that ____ is one of the investors behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, and we are disgusted to learn that not only have you partnered with Energy Transfer Partners to continue building unnecessary, expensive, and dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure across our great continent, but that over the past four months, as peaceful protestors have been increasingly injured by police and private security during prayerful, legal protest actions at the Standing Rock protest, your bank has done nothing to put pressure on Energy Transfer Partners to change this situation.
I am sickened by the images and videos coming out of the protests–the way that Native people and their allies are being brutalized is simply incompatible with everything I believe in. Furthermore, it is mind-boggling to me that as climate change continues to batter the world, that any company with an interest in our planet could continue to invest heavily in fossil fuel infrastructure. Investments should be made, instead, in renewable energy research, development, and deployment.
I cannot be a part of any institution that willingly puts profit over progress and the safety of our planet. My partner and I will therefore be taking all of our business to a local credit union as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
_______
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