Today on the Global Day of Climate Justice Action, a rowdy march in San Francisco made it’s way to Bank of America’s skyscraper (the tallest building in San Francisco), where dozens of activists blockaded the doors all around the building. Over 200 rallied and marched, while police eventually arrested at least 22.
Some locked themselves within the revolving doors to disrupt Bank of America’s business for the day. Bank of America is one of the largest funders of coal plants, oil and gas in the country. They also play a leading role within trade associations pushing for cap and trade.
“The world’s largest corporations are blocking an agreement to address the climate crisis that is endangering our common future,” stated organizer David Solnit. “Meanwhile, Bank of America profits from financing dirty energy and carbon trading schemes that subsidize pollution and poverty.” According to Bloomberg, Bank of America is the third largest financier of oil, gas, and coal in the world, and is heavily involved in financing mountaintop removal coal mining.
The activists, organized as The Mobilization for Climate Justice, also targeted carbon traders, and five of the largest contributors to climate pollution: JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Chevron, BP, and American Electric Power.
The Mobilization blames these corporations for contributing to the climate crisis and promoting false solutions such as carbon trading, “clean coal”, nuclear energy and bio-fuels. Through direct lobbying, and support of lobbying institutions like the Chambers of Commerce and the US Climate Action Partnership, these corporations have prevented democratic domestic and international climate negotiations. Moreover, companies like Chevron, whose Richmond oil refinery is the single largest emitter of climate pollution in California , continue to dump toxic pollution in poor communities with impunity.
This protest marks the 10th anniversary of the massive mobilization in Seattle that effectively derailed the corporate agenda driving the World Trade Organization’s trade liberalization policies. “We cannot allow the world’s largest corporate polluters to continue robbing our children’s future,” stated Carla Perez of Movement Generation, marching with a parade of children and the Raging Grannies carrying clean up equipment. “US corporations have been holding climate solutions hostage, while burdening our communities with ongoing attacks on our health and livelihoods.”
Protestors demand that Bank of America and the other corporations stop polluting the climate and promoting false solutions at the UN and in the halls of Congress.
Bank of America doesn’t even have offices in the building at 555 California Street anymore. Their offices relocated to North Carolina years ago (try 1998). The tallest building in San Francisco is not the former Bank of America building, but the Transamerica building. I’m all for climate justice but you were knocking at the wrong door today.
Funny, when the Bank of America people came down from upstairs they didn’t say they flew in from NC. Bank of America maintains operations all over the country. Their HQ moved to Charlotte awhile back but their west coast ops are still at 555 California. According to wiki, they are still a major tenant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_California_Street although it was my mistake, 555 California is 2nd largest building in SF.