Day Of Action To Protest Big Banks’ Funding Of Fossil Fuel Industry Is Tuesday In West Hartford

Citizen Action Group Joins March 21st Event To Avert “Climate Disaster”

Staff Reports

A National Day of Protest, including ones in West Hartford Center, New Haven and Norwalk in Connecticut, will be held Tuesday, March 21, to “pressure major banks to stop financing the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.”

Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG) is joining with Third Act, a group of climate activists over age 60, to oppose the funding of fossil fuel development by “cutting up credit cards” and delivering letters “demanding an end to banks’ contributions to climate disaster.”

The West Hartford Center rally will be held 2-5 p.m. Tuesday, March 21 at the northwest junction of Farmington Avenue and North Main Street targeting the Bank of America.

This national day of action against banks over climate change comes ahead of investor resolutions at their annual general meetings next month to pressure them to stop funding climate chaos. 

The rallies are among more than 90 events in more than half US states across the country. The day is being organized by Third Act,. with more than 50 local and national partners. Author and environmental activist Bill McKibben is a founder of Third Act.

CT Citizen Action Group is organizing the Greater Hartford action. Last fall CCAG organized protests and delivered petitions to Travelers Insurance urging the Hartford-based company “to join other insurance companies across the globe in committing to not underwrite or insure oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Refuge.”

This national day of action against banks over climate change comes ahead of investor resolutions at their annual general meetings next month to pressure them to stop funding climate chaos. 

Organizers cite a 2022 Fossil Fuel Banking Finance Report “Banking On Climate Change Chaos.” The top four fossil fuel financing banks are JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, pumping over one quarter of the $4.6 trillion total financing for fossil fuels by the top 60 global banks between 2016 and 2021. Thousands of customers and potential customers have pledged to move their money out of these banks if the banks won’t move their investments out of fossil fuels. 

“In light of the recent upheavals in the banking sector and the greater concentration of deposits in the large Wall Street banks, more than ever we need to demand that these banks use their power and funds responsibly,” said Pearl Granat, a Hartford Third Act Leader. “We will be cutting up our Bank of America and CHASE cards and demanding they stop contributing to climate change.”

“Our weather is becoming more severe, and there is no time to lose,”  added Angel Serrano, a climate organizer with CCAG. “The banks must manage both financial risks and climate risks; indeed climate risks are financial risks. We need safe and secure banking on a safe planet.”