Resistance Radio: Banking on Climate Change

“Over all, there is a lot of money going into clean energy worldwide, numbers showed last year that there was more solar power installed than there was coal power around the world.”– RAN’s Climate and Energy Director, Patrick McCully

Banks around the world spent 11% more to finance extreme fossil fuels in 2017 than they did the year prior in the immediate wake of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, according to the Rainforest Action Network’s annual report ‘Banking on Climate Change’.

The study is known to include grades for the banks based the existence of applicable policy and whether established policies are being adhered or acted upon. Just over half of the 11 North American banks listed as funders are based in the U.S. and none earned grades higher than a ‘D’.

RAN’s Climate and Energy Director, Patrick McCully will participate in a panel debating the attributes of socially responsible investing on Monday April 23rd at the Dairy Center in Boulder.

He told KGNU’s Robin Ryan that investments in clean energy sources is becoming more popular, but that it’s due more to how affordable it’s become rather than industry and they’re funders acknowledging the dangers climate disruption poses.

“Over all, there is a lot of money going into clean energy worldwide, numbers showed last year that there was more solar power installed than there was coal power around the world.”

McCully said that his organization singled out JP Morgan Chase because the bank quadrupled its funding of tar sands projects.  According to data at GoodJobsFirst, JP Morgan Chase has been fined more than $29 billion for 79 different violations since the year 2000.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download