Environmentalists are celebrating a tremendous victory today, as one of the world’s largest banks announced that it will phase out financing of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) posted a new coal policy on its website stating that it is "particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through
mountain top removal in locations such as central Appalachia."
As a result, the company said it "will phase
out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through
mountain top removal."
No particuar time line was given for the phasing out process, or what percentage of operations will be considered a "predominant method."
Nonetheless, the Rainforest Action Network, which launched a "No Coal" campaign against Bank of America and Citi (NYSE: C) last October are heraling the decision, stating that Bank of America has shown "necessary leadership in the finance industry."
"We applaud Bank of America for taking this important step to reduce its financing of dirty coal. But we also need to keep the pressure on them–as well as on Citi and other banks that finance coal–to ensure that they continue to curtail financing for dirty energy and start funding the future through energy efficiency and renewable energy," the group said in an e-mail to supporters.
Other groups in the fight agains mountain top removal coal mining include: Coal River Mountain Watch, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Alliance for Appalachia, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Appalachian Voices, Rising Tide, Blue Ridge Earth First, Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council.
However, the work is far from done. Just this week the Bush Administration was successful in pushing through new regulations that ease the restrictions on this method of coal mining, which is one of the most environmentally devastating industrial practices on the planet.
Read more about how the Environmental Protection Agency has eased restrictions at the link below.
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