Today, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is joining with thousands of friends and allies on the internet to send a message to JP Morgan Chase to stop financing mountaintop removal coal mining!
This Thursday morning at 9am EST, DirtyMoney.org revealed a list of simple actions people can take online, letting Chase know that America is aware of the bank’s involvement in destroying Appalachia. Participants will have a choice of actions to take on a variety of social networks, including Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.
JP Morgan Chase is the biggest U.S. financier of mountaintop removal coal mining, the highly destructive practice that literally explodes the tops off of mountains for access coal below the surface. To date, mountaintop removal has irreversibly destroyed almost 500 mountains and 1.2 million acres of forest, harmed numerous communities with increased rates of increases rates of human mortality, lung cancer, and chronic heart, lung and kidney disease and ruined Appalachia’s economy by creating conditions that have led to the worst poverty rates in the nation.
Recently, Chase spent millions in an online social media campaign to better promote their brand as a social philanthropy with the Facebook Fan Page “Chase Community Giving.” Over 2 million Facebook users joined the Fan Page. While they promoted themselves as charitable and benevolent, they funneled millions of dollars into a dirty coal industry that continues to perpetuate this American tragedy.
Now RAN has joined with 350.org, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Appalachian Voices, ilovemountains.org, the Alliance for Appalachia, the Waterkeeper Alliance, the Ruckus Society, Platform, People and the Planet, Banktrack, Aspiration Tech and Forest Ethics, plus a host of bloggers from across the political spectrum, to organize thousands to send a message to Chase to end their destructive practices. As David Taylor, Online Director at Rainforest Action Network said: “Social media can be a democratic institution. Companies like Chase spend millions to generate the good will of online communities via advertising, shallow promotions, rigged contests and high-end social media firms. We use good old fashion community organizing, friends and neighbors talking to each other about the issue, albeit via Facebook and Twitter, to show the real impact these companies have on people’s lives.”
Banks are responsible for much of calamity being wrought on our economy and environment these days. Chase is one of the biggest in the world and it’s time we began to take action against them. Get involved and take action today. Here’s how:
Social media activists can take action against Chase in a number of ways:
1. Update your facebook status with this message: ““Chase is bankrolling the destruction of American mountains for coal. End mountaintop removal and PUT CHASE ON THE RUN. Join me at www.DirtyMoney.org”
2. Upload this Chase brand jam image to your Facebook picture (picture coming soon)
3. Brand jam Chase’s Facebook page “Chase Community Giving.” Go this link for details
4. Tweet this message: “#Chase is bankrolling the destruction of American mountains. PUT CHASE ON THE RUN. Join me at http://www.DirtyMoney.org. #coal #mtr”
5. Upload the Chase brand jam image to Flickr (picture coming soon)
