Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
Citi mulls moving (coal) mountains after Bank of America acts
Now that Bank of America is cutting back on lending to mountain top removal mining companies, citing the environmental costs, rival Citigroup is weighing its options.
“Bank of America’s announcement has just been released so Citi will study the content,” the bank said on Friday. Citi and Bank of America were prime targets of Rainforest Action Network and others for their support of mountaintop removal mining for coal in Appalachia. Cutting the top off a mountain is a cheap and efficient way to get coal — and environmental groups call it an ecological disaster.
“We are continuing to learn about this issue through engaging and listening to a variety of stakeholders, including our clients. Today we met with a number of industry, scientific, and community experts to listen and learn from their perspectives. Citi has a long history of engaging in dialogue with our stakeholders on this and other critical environmental issues,” the bank said.
Rainforest Action Network says the bank has a history of funding dirty coal and has called Citi’s steps to curb its carbon footprint small. The coal industry, on the other hand, says Bank of America is pandering to the the green movement at the expense of work in a place where jobs are few and far between.
(Photo: Reuters/Andrea Hopkins)
The U.S. generates almost 1/4 of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, to present, federal restrictions have not yet been placed on GHG emissions. There have been initiatives introduced for embryonic carbon trading markets. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is an obligatory system for reducing carbon emissions from U.S. power plants in the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maine, Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Caps will go in effect in 2009 and emissions trading will be a key component of the structure.
In California, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 mandates the creation of a multi-industry structure to reduce GHG emissions in California to 1990 levels by 2020. It appears that emissions trading will be a component of the system that may be linked with the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In January 2005, the EU ETS commenced operation as the largest multi nation, multi-industry greenhouse gas emission trading system in the world.
You will find an informative discussion of global warming and biodiversity at http://www.onebiosphere.com
In the U.S., which lacks a binding federal carbon trading system, the private Chicago Climate Exchange that is owned by Climate Exchange plc is attempting to create a voluntary carbon exchange for North American and Brazil by utilizing independent verification to allow institutions and individuals to trade carbon reduction credits.