Major Lenders Make Greener Loans But Not PNC Bank

How We Won

Nov 15, 2010

PNC Bank has just joined six other major banks in issuing a new policy to stop financing highly destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. This is a big victory for the massive coalition that has been working to stop the deliberate destruction of Appalachia at the hands of some of the most rapacious companies on Earth. Thanks to 550 Change.org members for helping pressure PNC Bank.

Victory! PNC Bank has just joined six other major banks — including Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse — in issuing a new policy on MTR coal mining. This is a big victory for the massive coalition that has been working to stop the deliberate destruction of Appalachia that has been occurring one mountain at a time at the hands of some of the most rapacious companies on Earth. Thank you for adding your voice. Read more here. 

Mountaintop removal coal mining is one of the dirtiest energy extraction techniques on earth, one that major financial institutions increasingly want to stop financing. 

In fact, several major lenders, including Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, have already responded to pressure from activists and adopted greener lending standards to screen out, reduce or cut ties with Appalachian coal companies that engage in this practice,

There is one major laggard in this greener lending trend: Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank has so far refused to disengage from financing mountaintop removal projects. That makes PNC currently the largest U.S.-based financier of mountaintop removal (MTR) projects, according to a Solve Climate article. PNC has provided $500 million to the coal industry, with $80 million going directly to MTR. 

What's more, unlike several other banks, PNC has also refused to cut ties with Massey Energy, the mining company responsible for the deaths of 29 workers in a catastrophic underground mine explosion this April. The Steel City bank has earned an "F" grade from the Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club for their banking practices earlier this year. 

A bank's decision whether or not to lend money is a powerful tool for change. Eventually, if enough banks will take a stand, there will be no one left to cut dirty coal companies a check.

That's why it's important to tell PNC to join this growing green lending trend. Please sign the petition below. 

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