OVERVIEW
MANAGEMENT
PERFORMANCE
POSSIBILITIES
CAPITALS
ACTIVITIES
ACTORS
BURGESS
Corporate Behavior | ||
|
Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | ||
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Largest Bank in the US Will Not Fund Fossil Fuel Extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
JPMorgan Chase is the latest financial institution to step up its policies to honor the environment.
Photo: Getty
The largest bank in the U.S. will no longer fund drilling in the Arctic, according to its newly released its environmental and social policy framework.
JPMorgan Chase—the bank in question—announced the change Tuesday during its annual Investor Day. Executives at the company presented a litany of policy changes, including ending the financing of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the last pristine landscapes left in North America. The bank also announced it would limit financing the coal sector and increase its investments in renewables. This comes days after an internal report by JPMorgan economists leaked showing that the climate crisis could “end human life as we know it.”
This move is yet another sign the finance sector is shifting away from fossil fuel funding, especially the most extreme forms of extraction. And getting JPMorgan Chase onboard is a particularly big deal. The bank is the top funder of fossil fuel projects, according to an annual report released by the Rainforest Action Network. That it’s backing away from at least some fossil fuel investment reflects the reality that banks, investment firms, and even energy companies are slowly coming to the realization that fossil fuels are a shitty investment.
The dirtiest, hardest-to-extract fuels have become the first to go. Just a day before JPMorgan Chase’s announcement, Teck Resources Limited withdrew its permit to build what would’ve been one of the world’s biggest tar sands mines Sunday because it wasn’t going to be financial sustainable.
Then there’s drilling in the Arctic, which has also faced stiff headwinds. While President Donald Trump has been working tirelessly to open to oil and gas interests, even the weight of the federal government might not be enough given the economic signals. To break even, companies would have to sell each barrel of oil for some $20 more than the cost of an average barrel of oil, per one 2017 analysis.
JPMorgan Chase’s move comes a couple months after Goldman Sachs similarly updated its policy. However, the former goes a bit further by including gas while Goldman Sachs only banned funding oil extraction from its portfolio.
“This builds on past steps we’ve taken to facilitate clean financing for clients and source renewable energy for the firm’s own global power needs,” wrote spokesperson Andrew Gray, in an email to Earther.
Advocates and indigenous leaders with the Gwich’in Nation have been focusing their energy on getting JPMorgan Chase to change its pollution-funding ways. For the Gwich’in, ending drilling in the refuge is essential. The 1.5 million acre coastal plain where this extraction is planned is sacred to the Gwich’in. The Porcupine caribou herd, which the Gwich’in hunt for food and sustenance, calves on the coastal plain, and studies have shown that these ungulates struggle when they’re surrounded by the roads and pipes that come along with the oil and gas industry.
“We’re thankful that the largest bank in the country recognizes that the Arctic Refuge is no place for drilling,” Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, said in an emailed statement. “Disturbing these lands would devastate the Porcupine caribou herd and our people’s way of life.”
Yessenia Funes
Senior staff writer, Earther. The one who 'pulls the race card' in the name of environmental justice. You dig?
These Maps Paint a Dark Future for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge If Trump Has His Way
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the last pristine landscapes in America. Tucked along
Read more
Recent Video
Advertisement: 0:14
Batman's Latest Scribe on Telling New Stories With One of DC's Oldest Heroes
Autumn Noel Kelly
6
You may also like
Climate Deniers Are Out of Ideas
Study Shows Big Oil Rewards Members of Congress With Cash After Anti-Environment Votes
What's the Most Toxic Chemical?
Climate Deniers Are Out of Ideas
Earther
Climate Deniers Are Out of Ideas
Brian KahnMonday 12:06PM
Study Shows Big Oil Rewards Members of Congress With Cash After Anti-Environment Votes
Earther
Study Shows Big Oil Rewards Members of Congress With Cash After Anti-Environment Votes
Yessenia FunesMonday 4:45PM
What's the Most Toxic Chemical?
Earther
What's the Most Toxic Chemical?
Daniel KolitzMonday 8:00AM
Popular Deals on The Inventory
It's 2020, Charge Your Phone With An Anker Powerwave Pad
It's 2020, Charge Your Phone With An Anker Powerwave Pad
Host a Movie Night Anywhere With Anker's Discounted Portable Projector
Host a Movie Night Anywhere With Anker's Discounted Portable Projector
MORE FROM G/O MEDIA
READ ON
How to Unlock Chrome's Hidden Bottom Toolbar in Android
READ ON
Nintendo Cracked Open Its Secret Game Boy Stash to Help a 95-Year-Old Fan
READ ON
The New Xbox One Home Screen Is A Lot Cleaner
READ ON
Peanut Butter Company Finally Addresses GIF Pronunciation Issue
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
This newsletter comes from the future.
Subscribe
|
Yessenia Funes
Senior staff writer, Earther. The one who 'pulls the race card' in the name of environmental justice. You dig?
| The text being discussed is available at | https://earther.gizmodo.com/largest-bank-in-the-us-will-stop-funding-fossil-fuel-ex-1841907860 and |