Take The Pledge

The Penn Community Against Mountaintop Removal coal mining (PCAMTR) is seeking environmentally and socially concerned members of the Penn student body to close their accounts with PNC Bank.

To celebrate I Love Mountains day on February 14th, we ask you to take the pledge to close your PNC account until PNC commits to a sector exclusion of companies that practice mountaintop removal. PNC is a primary financier of the destructive coal mining method, an extraction process that has destroyed 500 of the central Appalachian mountains, contaminated 2000 miles of freshwater streams, and caused increased rates of cancer and birth defects in nearby communities.

The money in each PNC bank account contributes to PNC’s investments in mountaintop removal. This is one of the first, and most crucial, steps we can take to undermine the financing of mountaintop removal coal mining. If we are to win this fight and save the mountains we can begin by not providing a dime to any company that finances mountaintop removal.

Join us in taking the pledge on February 14th, for life, for love of the mountains, and for justice.

For more info, check out mtratpenn.org or our facebook page.

With love,

The Penn Community Against Mountaintop Removal

Last summer, a number of new studies put more numbers to the profound impact that MTR has had on the health of communities in Appalachia. Here’s one by professors at West Virginia University and Washington State University, incluing Dr. Michael Hendryx, Director of the West Virginia Rural Health Research Center at West Virginia University’s Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center.

The mining study, published in the journal Environmental Research, examined over 1.8 million live birth records from 1996 to 2003 using National Center for Health Statistics data from the central Appalachian states of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

It found that rates for six out of seven types of birth defects — circulatory/respiratory, central nervous system, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, urogenital and “other” — were increased near MTR sites. The research suggests that contaminants are released into nearby environments from MTR, and that many of the contaminants are known to impair fetal development.

-Huffington post

Here’s an incredible, short video that features Dr. Michael Hendryx discussing the study:

-Appalachian Mountain Advocates

And finally, here’s the link to the study in the journal of Environmental Research.

Save the Mountains: Penn, Temple students meet with PNC over mountaintop removal

Mountaintop removal might not seem like an issue pertinent to Philly residents, but students at Temple University and University of Pennsylvania would disagree. Local banking favorite PNC is a major financier for companies engaged in the practice. And at Temple and Penn, the relationship with PNC is close. Both universities have exclusive contracts with the bank. Additionally, Penn receives financial contributions from the company and at Temple, J. William Mills III, regional president for PNC, sits on the board….

-http://www.gridphilly.com/grid-magazine/2012/1/25/save-the-mountains-penn-temple-students-meet-with-pnc-over-m.html

The ongoing movement against mountaintop removal took a big leap yesterday by securing a private meeting with top PNC Bank executives.

Penn and Temple University are among 37 schools that partner with the Pennsylvania-based bank. Penn has had a long-standing relationship with PNC, which offers many resources for student banking.

On Monday, the Penn Community Against Mountaintop Removal and its Temple counterpart met with bank executives privately and conducted a press conference afterwards.

They have campaigned against PNC since early September for its investment in a company involved with mountaintop removal — a method of coal mining that the groups say is both cheap and damaging to the environment.

The Penn and Temple branches of the movement plan to pressure students, universities and PNC itself to enact change, according to Russell Trimmer, Penn Community Against MTR member and Wharton senior. They are formulating a plan to have students remove their money from PNC. While this plan is still developing, they suggest transferring funds to the Student Federal Credit Union — the other financial institution that partners with Penn…

-http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2012/01/students_protest_pnc_bank_practices

ADVISORY
Embargoed Until: 2PM, Monday, January 23
Contact:
Luke Byrnes
Organizer
luke.d.byrnes@gmail.com
215-622-6342

Temple University and University of Pennsylvania Student Activists Meet with PNC Executives after Major Protesting, Press Conference to Follow

Meetings were granted after three Temple students were arrested while conducting a sit-in at their campus PNC branch in response to PNC’s investments in mountaintop removal coal mining.

WHAT:
At 2PM, Monday, January 23rd, members of the Temple Community Against Mountaintop Removal will be meeting with PNC officials led by Senior Counsel and Corporate Secretary George Long in the Board Room on the 2nd floor of Sullivan Hall, on Temple University’s campus to discuss PNC’s investments in toxic, job-killing mountaintop removal coal mining.
At 4:30PM the same day, Monday, January 23rd, members of the Penn Community Against Mountaintop Removal will also be meeting with PNC officials led by Senior Counsel and Corporate Secretary George Long in the Franklin Building of the University of Pennsylvania to discuss PNC’s investments in toxic, job-killing mountaintop removal coal mining.
Following the meetings, a press conference with both student organizations will be held at 6PM, in Houston Hall on University of Pennsylvania’s campus. Both student organizations are pushing their administrations to deny renewal of PNC’s contract.

WHEN:

Monday, January 23rd
2PM. Meeting at Temple University
2nd Floor Board Rm, Sullivan Hall (directly across from the Temple Police), Temple University Campus, Philadelphia

4:30PM. Meeting at University of Pennsylvania
Franklin Building, 3451 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

6PM. Press Conference at University of Pennsylvania
Houston Hall, Rm 100, 3417 Spruce Street, Philadelphia

WHY:

Despite advertising themselves as a “Green Bank,” PNC is a leading investor in mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), a practice that causes thousands of Clean Water Act violations across Appalachia and increased rates of birth defects and cancer for residents of the impoverished area. Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania are both members of the 37 alliance universities with whom PNC Bank maintains an exclusive contract for campus banking services. Students of Temple and Penn have been waging campaigns against PNC on each campus since September of 2011 and are now targeting the renewal of PNC’s contract with each university.

On November 30, 3 students from Temple University were arrested inside their campus PNC Bank protesting their university’s connection to mountaintop removal: PNC Regional President Bill Mills is on Temple’s Board of Trustees. Both student run campaigns at Temple and Penn emerged from and are supported by the work of the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT). PNC has met with tremendous opposition from EQAT in response to PNC’s investments in mountaintop removal. On December 6, 5 protesters were arrested inside the PNC Regional Headquarters in downtown Philadelphia, protesting PNC’s false claim that they invest in mountaintop removal to create jobs. Increased national focus on economic inequalit y has helped each campaign gain momentum around Philadelphia and at the local universities. Earlier this month on Nov. 12th, 150 demonstrators, including many Temple and Upenn students, staged a theatrical “die-in” with EQAT, shutting down traffic on Market Street in front of PNC’s Regional HQ to protest the bank’s investments.

8:30pm on Thursday, November 17th
Huntsman Hall 370

Join us for a screening of an Official Selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. ‘The Last Mountain’ is documentary film that showcases one community’s battle to stop a mountaintop removal mine that residents fear will destroy their region. The film considers the health consequences of mining and burning coal and looks at the context and history of environmental laws in the United States.

Following the screening, we will discuss how the University of Pennsylvania and PNC Bank are involved in Mountaintop Removal and how a broad coalition of students at Penn is working to put an end to this profoundly destructive practice.