On June 19th, 2017 we answered Bold Appalachia’s call to defund the pipeline infrastructure which threatens not just Virginia, but the nation as a whole, by asking Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney to Divest from the City’s primary commercial bank, Wells Fargo. Virginia needs a Climate Mayor to join the cities of Seattle, Davis, and Philadelphia who have severed ties with Wells Fargo because of their support of harmful fossil fuel projects like the Keystone XL, Dakota Access, Atlantic Coast, and Mountain Valley Pipelines. We began with a divestment action at the Wells Fargo on 11th Street, and then delivered our appeal directly to the office of Mayor Stoney. We’ve included a link if you’d like to view our letter: https://goo.gl/1LX1LU
Dangerous oil and LNG pipelines aren’t built on their own. We stand in solidarity with the Indigenous communities campaigning to stop the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines, as well as Virginia property owners fighting eminent domain over reach in the case of the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines. Not only do these projects tread on the rights of private landowners, they threaten the purity of our air and water, and lock us into catastrophic climate change by releasing carbon and methane into the atmosphere while stranding assets in fossil fuels for the next 20-50 years,. Climate science clearly demands we keep carbon in the ground and invest in clean, renewable energy.
Wells Fargo has been in the headlines since last fall over a scandal involving bank employees creating over 2 million fake accounts in customers’ names to bolster performance results and boost bonuses. While other banks are also involved in the pipeline deals, Wells Fargo’s recent history puts it at the top of our list.
Richmond Divest – 06/19/2017
Virginia’s being poisoned by corruption, all the livelong daaay
Our Assembly is corrupting with Dominion, just to sell our rights away
Can’t you hear the Senate pleading, Dominion give me more
Can’t you hear Delegates bleating, gimme more than before.
Dominion won’t you pay,
Dominion won’t you pay,
Dominion won’t you pay for all our suits and yachts.
Dominion won’t you get
Dominion won’t you get
A backroom deal sweet Pipeline permit.
The Assembly’s in the kitchen with Dominion
Wells Fargo’s there just cooking up some swill
DEQ’s and FERC endorse pollutionnnnn
If they Rubberstamp the pipeline bill…
And singing “A fee to defy and diddle eye-o
A fee to dance with Dominion eye-o-ohhh
We want to line our pockets from Do- MIN – I – ON
And to hell with the rights of Virgin-i-ans.”
— to be sung with gusto to tune of I’ve Been Working on the Railroad