Some members of EQAT at the bank. Photo: Courtesy of EQAT.
American Friends win landmark environmental victory
EQAT has succeeded in deterring PNC Bank from investing in mountaintop removal coal mining
A Quaker group has succeeded in stopping an American bank from investing in a controversial mining practice.
EQAT – Earth Quaker Action Team – has been working since 2010 to deter PNC Bank from financing mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.
PNC is the seventh largest bank in the United States. According to EQAT, the companies it invested in were responsible for almost half of Appalachian mountaintop removal production. PNC invested $687.5 million in the practice in 2012 alone.
The bank’s recently released 2015 Corporate Responsibility Report confirmed that it is now divesting from mountaintop removal firms. PNC admitted that it was ‘driven by environmental and health concerns’.
Mountaintop removal involves blowing up the top of the mountain and dumping the remains into rivers and valleys. The contaminants from the dynamite hang in the air and the sludge and residue from this process poison water, EQAT said.
EQAT began as a tiny group in Philadelphia, member George Lakey told the Friend. By December 2014 it was in a position to organise more than thirty actions across a dozen states over a twenty-four hour period.
Worship was an important part of the campaign, George explained: ‘We avoided empty ritual, which early Friends were also allergic to, and emphasised Spirit. That meant a lot of profound worship in banks surrounded by police and curious onlookers. We were arrested with joy on our faces and clarity in our hearts, even when extremely nervous at the same time.’
