Why Bank of America Is Not Funding Coal Extraction

Submitted by larryf13 on Tue, 05/19/2015 - 1:26pm

Carbon Dioxide... It is a colorless odorless gas that we hardly ever think about as we go about our daily lives. We simply take it for granted that levels of this chemical compound, along with many others stay in-balance in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, recently the CO2 level elevated to 404 parts per million (ppm), another atmospheric number we don�t think about.  By all scientific evidence, we now have the largest amount of CO2 present in Earth's atmosphere for at least the last 800,000 years, and probably several million. This not an insignificant scientific fact we can ignore and not think about.

One of our top ranking financial institutions is sending a message loud and clear that they are aware of the climate risk and are taking steps in the right direction. Bank Of America recently announced that it will cut back lending to coal extraction companies and coal divisions of broader mining companies. Bank of America's new policy cites pollution regulations, changes in economic conditions, increased competition from shale gas and renewable power as the main drivers of such change. The announcement comes amid a growing fossil fuel divestment movement, in which universities, churches and large asset owners are being pressured to abandon or curb their investments in high-carbon energy. Bank of America's new policy arose from pressure from universities and environmental groups, and supports the divestment movement the bank said.

Many of us who in the past have paid little or no attention to our planet's atmosphere are coming to the realization that unless something is done, future generations will live a much less environmental friendly life style than we do. There is no one solution to completely solve the climate change issue but divesting from carbon based assets into socially responsible investments is one piece of the puzzle we cannot ignore and just not think about.

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Link To BOA announcement:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/06/us-banking-coal-climatechange-idUSKBN0NR2IY20150506

GENI is a co-founder of the MSCI Global Climate 100 Index (GC100). The GC100 includes 100 equally weighted companies that operate in three key areas, clean technology, renewable energy and future fuels. We believe this index will provide above average long term returns while being socially responsible with the constituents it includes.

http://www.msci.com/resources/factsheets/index_fact_sheet/msci-global-climate-index.pdf

Disclosure Note: GENI receives remuneration from this (GC100) index.

Larry Fontaine