Advocates Call for Accountability for Wells Fargo’s Funding of Projects that Threaten Climate and Communities

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Washington, DC -- This morning, as Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan testified before the US Senate Banking Committee about the bank’s recent scandals, DC residents urged elected officials to hold Wells Fargo accountable for financing projects that threaten our communities and climate.

In addition to the scandals that have plagued the bank over the last year, Wells Fargo is also facing mounting calls to stop funding fossil fuel projects that threaten our climate. Between 2014 and 2016 alone, Wells Fargo invested at least $5 billion into the coal, oil, and gas industries that are driving the climate crisis. Wells Fargo has been a major financier of the Dakota Access pipeline, as well as TransCanada, the Canadian oil company behind Keystone XL and the Potomac Pipeline proposal that would endanger DC’s water supply.

“Wells Fargo has divested from environmental justice and fair banking practices,” said Jeremiah Lowery, Sierra Club DC Chapter board member. “So it's time the people returned the favor and divested from them and reinvested in our future and communities.”

Across the country, people and communities are fighting back by committing to divest from Wells Fargo. Tens of thousands of people have pledged to move their account to community banks and local credit unions. San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and other cities have moved to cut ties with Wells Fargo and other investors in the Dakota Access Pipeline. In DC, local residents are moving their own accounts and calling on the city council to divest from Wells Fargo and reinvest locally.

Today’s rally was organized by local advocacy groups including the Sierra Club Washington DC Chapter, Rising Hearts, DC ReInvest Coalition, Showing Up for Racial Justice - SURJ - DC, and 350 DC.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.