ARCHIVE

MTR protestors take on UBS

ABOUT 30 demonstrators from environmental group Hands Off Appalachia took to the streets of Lexington, Kentucky on Monday to speak out against financial services firm UBS lending to mountaintop removal miners.

Donna Schmidt

The group, which walked from the city’s Woodland Park to UBS’ Lexington branch office, delivered a letter to company officials regarding MTR’s impacts, according to local news station WUKY.

HOA, which said UBS provided money and financial input to many major producers including Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal, Patriot Coal and James River Coal, wanted the institution to sever ties with all of its mining clientele and amend its investment policies.

Protestor Greg Capillo told the station that UBS’ funding should be focused on local education initiatives as well as healthcare and economic development efforts.

“You owe these people a future. You’ve robbed them of that,” he said.

Former Virginian coal miner Nick Mullins also spoke to the group about MTR, according to the outlet.

“Banks in foreign countries are making profit from Appalachia at the cost of our health and the health of future generations,” he said.

“The people of Switzerland wouldn't stand for US banks funding the destruction of the Alps, so why should we allow them to fund the destruction of our mountains?”

Tennessee-based HOA said it wanted its Kentucky protest to be the first in a sustained campaign.

The demonstration is the latest in a trend of anti-coal and anti-MTR efforts on the part of opposition groups.

Bank of America was visited by a group of protesters earlier this month, as was the annual general meeting of large coal lender PNC Bank.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions