Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Tomorrow morning, as Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan testifies before the US Senate Banking Committee, DC residents will gather outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building to call on 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.
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.
What: Rally to urge elected officials to hold Wells Fargo accountable for financing projects that threaten our communities and climate
When: Tuesday, October 3 at 9am
Where: Dirksen Senate Office Building (corner of Constitution Ave NE & First St NE)
Who: DC residents; 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.