Bank of America: MORE Hypocrisy and an Alternative
Recently I have been harping on how Bank of America took a taxpayer-funded bailout then tried to screw taxpayers. And I put this into a context of poor customer service by Bank of America in general, drawing on some experiences others have posted. Bank of America is also tied for worst bank (with Citicorp) on Co-op America's Responsible Shopper site. I know of at least three people who have decided to stop doing business with Bank of America recently over these issues.
Now I want to add one more bit of hypocrisy into the list of reasons to take your business elsewhere. Seems Bank of America makes claims about their environmental record that just don't hold up. From Rainforest Action Network:
In March 2007, Bank of America made headlines with an environmental initiative pledging support for “environmentally sustainable business…. (and) to address global climate change.” While hailing itself as a leader in the fight against global warming, Bank of America is continuing to finance the greatest cause of climate change: coal.
Unfortunately, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis’ lofty rhetoric is at odds with his company’s track record. In reality, BofA's pledge commits less than two percent of the company's assets to fighting global warming, and the money will be spread out over the next 10 years. Bank of America's efforts are akin to trying to douse a fire with a cup of water in one hand and a tank of gasoline in the other.
And what is Bank of America doing with the other 98 percent of its $1.1 trillion in assets?
Accelerating Climate Change
Bank of America has financed dozens of new coal-fired power plants to the tune of billions of dollars. If these proposed plants are built, BofA will be helping finance hundreds of millions of tons of new C02 emissions every single year. The bank's clients include some of the country's largest power and utility companies: AES, Dynegy, Florida Power and Light, Great Plains Energy, Idaho Power, Peabody Energy and many more.
Destroying Appalachia's Mountains
Bank of America has invested billions of dollars in companies that practice Mountaintop Removal, including Massey Energy, Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources and others. These companies are responsible for the loss of millions of acres of Appalachian forests and mountains, and Bank of America is continuing to bankroll the destruction. Learn more about Mountaintop Removal....
Violating Human Rights
Peabody Energy is the largest coal mining company in the world. In 2006, Bank of America helped financed more than $4 billion of the company's controversial mining operations in the Black Mesa region of northeastern Arizona. For 40 years, Indigenous Navajo and Hopi communities in Arizona have been ravaged by the Black Mesa coal mine, which drains 2.5 million gallons daily from the only community water supply, has caused bitter land disputes between Peabody and the Indigenous communities of the region, and left a toxic legacy along a 273 mile coal slurry pipeline. Learn more about Peabody Coal's Black Mesa mine...
Predatory lending
Begging taxpayers for a bank bailout
Lobbying against a bailout for taxpayers
Poor customer service
and Lying about their environmental record
Pretty bad record for one bank.
I would like to put in a plug for a bank Joy and I had a good experience with recently: TD Bank. They have exemplary customer service, and in a situation where another local bank, Astoria Bank, screwed us over, TD Bank had a no-minimum balance, no fee option for an account for a minor. They seem to have avoided much of the predatory lending practices, so have not had to beg taxpayers for a bailout. Additionally, they have been one of the world's most sustainable companies according to the fifth annual Global 100 ranking (ncluding companies' performance on social, environmental and strategic governance issues.) Though I suspect, seeing some of the other companies on that list, the criteria for being named to this are low. Still, it shows an independent agency saw TD Bank as worthy of recognition for their social, economic and governance issues. To me, they are clearly better than Bank of America anyday and if there is a TD Bank in your area, check them out. Otherwise, the relatively best companies listed on Co-op America's Responsible Shopper site (all mediocre, but better than Bank of America or Citicorp) are Wachovia (now I think bought out by Wells Fargo), Wells Fargo itself, and Suntrust.
Not really
The Banks did indeed beg for a bailout ...and still are. When Crain's had their big event in NYC recently, the CEO of JP Morgan was pretty much pushing for more bailout money for banks. I also should note that the CEO of BoA is getting some heavy criticism for his acquisitions policies, ML included.
THe CO2 issue really is one that can be dealt with...but not by false claims. And everyone does not do it. You might notice I provide alternatives in my article. I cite the banks that get the worst ratings (and there is more in my earlier pieces, including BoA being one of the banks that gets the most complaints filed against it) and I cite the banks that get better ratings and the one that, at least on customer service, does much better. So clearly there are choices out there, which is what this is all about. People can make choices in who they patronize. I provide information so they can make said choices. You want people to hire lawyers to deal with everything. I am suggesting they get some facts (which I help provide with links to further info) and make informed decisions based on those facts.
As for my utility bill, yes, we buy all wind power. Now yes, some CO2 is generated in the manufacturing of wind turbines, but come on. You can't claim, however, it is as bad as coal.
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I Guess
The Banks might have begged for a bailout, but I don't think BoA was a prime offender.
Giving people info and letting them make choices is fine. I just think if you did such a strenuous vetting of any bank, they'd all have similar histories - the new ones, less so.
How do you buy "all wind power"? What do you do when the wind is not blowing? What do you do when the wind is too strong? I thought wind power required back-ups. I'm just curious on that one - I could be wrong.
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Indeed
For once we may well be in agreement to a large degree.
BoA was NOT a prime offender. But they are one of the ones that then partied on our dollar and did lobbying on our dollar. AIG was another one. And at least one other. But the point I am making is that BoA ranks poorly based on several criteria from several sources. As for other banks, I cite Citigroup as being ranked as low as BoA by one source and the same source ranks Wachovia, Wells Fargo and Suntrust (this last I am not familiar with) higher, though not well. TD Bank from what I can tell avoids at least some of BoA's faults: they didn't do predatory lending to much of a degree, didn't need a taxpayer funded bailout, and have exemplary customer service from all I can find and from what I have experienced. So I consider them a good alternative.
As to wind power, first wind energy works better than most people give it credit for. It can work within a wide range of wind speeds. However, backup sources are important as well. Solar is one good back up from an availability standpoint because on average wind blows more at night when solar is limited. However, I think we need stuff like methane from landfills, methane from agricultural waste, geothermal, hydroelectric, etc. as backups as well. Hell I even admit now is not the time to close down any nuke plants. The development of a new, locally based (and hence more efficient) energy grid has just begun. The program I buy into, through Con-Ed, is, you will be happy to know, thanks to deregulation of the energy industry. We can choose from a variety of energy providers through our Con-Ed bill. Among them are at least two alternative energy companies, one of which is all wind. I discuss this option as well as some scams that deregulation has generated here.
Now the truth is, the energy grid doesn't work this way where you flip on a switch and your energy comes from a particular source. It all, of course, goes through the same lines. So what you are doing is paying a particular company to generate your share of energy usage. And our payments are going to build wind generation mostly on upstate NY farms, providing clean energy and helping out farmers at the same time. I think now they may not be just building upstate because the demand has been high, so wind power generation is being expanded to other states as well from what I hear. So the actual electrons we use probably are NOT generated that way, but our payments do go to generate electrons, used by others, by wind generation.
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Banks are not the environmental problem
Bank of America agreed to take over Merrill Lynch when it was about to fail. When they got a good look at ML’s books and saw how much in toxic assets it has, they wanted to back out and the Treasury BEGGED them not to, and agreed to give Bank of America EVEN MORE money to take ML.
Bank of America did not beg for taxpayer money. You’re painting with broad strokes here. GM begged for taxpayer money – I don’t think Bof A did.
As for BofA’s environmental record, I hate to be judged by 12 of you (and I’d think you wouldn’t like it either). I don’t know how much BofA should spend on the environment. Two percent seems like a decent amount. You mock it, but I have a feeling you’d mock it until it was 100%.
If I knew someone who gave 2% of his salary to environmental causes, I wouldn’t mock him for claiming he gives to the environment.
As for BofA financing things that create CO2 – everything creates CO2. You can’t finance a project that doesn’t create CO2.
If someone is destroying the Appalachians, have Congress change the law. Don’t blame BofA.
As for the problem regarding Mesa, AZ – if it’s as bad as you claim, there are means to litigate that issue.
There are legitimate environmental policies to complain about. But, the charges you just made about BofA can probably be made about EVERYONE & ANYONE. Where do you get your electricity from? Do you pay your bill to a utility that doesn’t create CO2. I doubt it.
Your charges against BofA are frivolous. It’s noise that drowns out legitimate environmental issues.