Statement From Rainforest Action Network (ran),
Published by MAC on 2007-02-14Source: Rainforest Action Network
Statement from Rainforest Action Network (RAN),
US
14th February 2007
Today, RAN's Executive Director Michael Brune and our Global Finance team met with Chuck Prince, the CEO of Citigroup. For several years, we have been urging Citi to develop a climate change policy that would guide its investments. Citi has dragged its feet long enough. We need Citi to get serious about global warming and enact a policy that will stop supporting projects like the TXU coal power plant project. Please join us by signing this petition:
http://ga3.org/campaign/citi_txupetition/ws8xdu6rrbim7iw?
In Jan. 2004, Citi became a world leader in environmentally and socially responsible banking by developing strict policies that guide its project investments. To see the policy click here:
http://ga3.org/ct/t7LM9Vn1EmlR/
This was the result of years of protest and pressure by all of you and other organizations. However, Citi never developed a comprehensive policy that addressed global warming and climate change. Over the past three years, we have urged Citi to accept its responsibility as the world's largest bank and leading lender to the oil, coal and gas sectors to join the fight against climate change.
Not only has Citi refused to commit to a modern climate change policy, but the bank is involved in one of the dirtiest energy projects in North America: Texas utility company TXU's plan to build 11 new coal-fired power plants. The plants will emit more than 78 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere annually as long as they are active -- in pollution terms, that's the equivalent of putting 14 million new cars on America's roads every year for the next fifty years. Citi is one of three major banks lining up financing for the massive TXU power plant project, along with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
The greenhouse gases from this project will affect everyone, whether you live in the remote rainforests of Brazil, the Arctic tundra, or anywhere else on the planet. The impact these plants will have on the air quality and health of surrounding communities will be severe. The environmental devastation caused by mining the coal for these plants is irreversible. We urge you to join the people of Texas in demanding that Citi rededicate itself to our environmental and economic future by writing a climate change policy that will help reverse global warming.
This is why we met with Citi on this Valentine's Day. Will Citi break our hearts and ignore the demand from investors, scientists, citizens, business leaders, mayors, NGOs and activists? We hope not. We hope that rather than continuing to fund climate change, Citi will start banking on the future.
Thanks for your support,
Japhet, Debra, Julie, Scott
Grassroots Organizing Team
Rainforest Action Network
http://ga3.org/ct/g7LM9Vn1EmlG/