Events and actions will be held from June 24-28 targeting banks, insurers, and supporters of industries polluting gulf communities
New York, NY — Community leaders, elders, young people, and families from the U.S. Gulf South will converge on Wall Street to demand that major financial institutions including BlackRock, Bank of America, Citi, Chubb, KKR, Mizuho, MUFG, and Sompo address environmental racism and the destructive impacts of the fossil fuel industry. These institutions’ financial support and underwriting of oil, gas, and petrochemical projects are a core driver of climate change and are directly responsible for contaminating the air, water, and soil of gulf south communities. The region is the site of the largest fossil fuel buildout of our generation, with plans to add over 25 methane facilities in the region.
“Projects that kill our communities like Freeport LNG, Cameron LNG, Corpus Christi LNG, and others would not exist without the backing of financial institutions. Money made from them is blood money. Since they destroy our homes we’re coming to pay them a visit. We will break this cycle of violence and exploitation now because later is too late.”
From the Bronx to the Gulf South, Black, Latine, Asian, Indigenous, and low-income communities living on the frontlines of the climate crisis – and the ones least responsible for it – face the highest asthma rates and staggering cancer rates while an unprecedented number of people are dying from heat waves. Instead of staying home and hiding from the heat, we are taking to the streets and demanding that Wall Street side with our future.
Over 200 community members from the U.S. Gulf South are expected to participate in the activities. Notable leaders include:
- Roishetta Ozane, Vessel Project founder and Texas Campaign for the Environment Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator
- Juan Mancias, Tribal Chair of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas
- Melanie Oldham, Founder of Better Brazoria
- Manning Rollerson, Freeport Haven Project for Environmental Justice
- Maggie Peacock, Gulf Research Institute
- Cyndi Valdes, Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch Association and student organizer in Corpus Christi
- Bekah Hinojosa, South Texas Environmental Justice Network
