NH Student Activists Gathered on May 8th to Demand Bank of America End Funding to the Fossil Fuel Industry:
Bedford, NH — On Saturday evening a group of high school activists from the 350NH Youth Team and members of Extinction Rebellion met at the Bank of America in Bedford to protest the bank’s involvement in funding the fossil fuel industry. Speakers urged for the end to the money pipeline from banks and other firms that keeps the fossil fuel industry afloat even as our society has increasingly recognized the environmental costs of fossil fuels. The event was both virtual with a Zoom call run by youth team members and in-person where participants drew in chalk along the sidewalk near the bank.
Nikhil Chavda, sophomore at Coe Brown Academy and organizer of the event says: “Bank of America lends money to fossil fuel companies that build pipelines such as Line 3 in Minnesota. Between 2016 and 2020, Bank of America lent $3.16 BILLION dollars to Enbridge, the company building the pipeline. They lent $350 Million to the Dakota Access Pipeline, which still operates today! Without money from big banks, fossil fuel companies wouldn’t have enough money to support the building of more pipelines. Bank of America could stop this, if they stop lending these companies billions of dollars.”
This action, organized by high school-aged activists across New Hampshire, sends a message to the CEOs of Bank of America and other big banks that it is unacceptable to profit off of the destruction of the climate. Individuals in positions of power have failed to protect the climate and it is now up to ordinary people to make the changes necessary in the time we have left. We demand that the people in power step up, and stop investing money in the fossil fuel industry, funding dangerous projects such as the Line 3 Pipeline, currently being built on indigenous land.
“We are calling from all corners of the globe that it is time to Defund Line 3. This is just a start, but it is not the end of our efforts. We will continue to fight until we strip the monetary foundation of the fossil fuel industry away and put out the fire that threatens all of us, once and for all” says Anna Rose Marion, a senior in high school and organizer of the event.
Grassroots resistance to the pipeline is growing across the country, day by day. Actions in opposition will continue to be organized, and the corporations funding such destruction of the planet will be targeted. Bank of America is not innocent, and the youth of New Hampshire will not stand to pretend that they are. This action was one of many, and we will continue to fight until big banks stop funding the fossil fuel industry, and the building of Line 3 in Minnesota.
This action is a part of a global day of action to call on banks to Defund Line 3 pipeline. Learn more about the national coalition here.
