For Immediate Release: November 27, 2016
CONTACT:
Pennie Opal Plant, 510- 390-0386, pennie@gatheringtribes.com
Ayana Young, 484 241-6616, ayana@forthewild.world
When:
Wednesday, November 30
8 AM – 11 AM PST
Where:
Justin Herman Plaza
1 Market Street,
San Francisco,
California 94111
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — On November 30th Wells Fargo customers will demonstrate in the streets of San Francisco, withdraw their money, and close their accounts, as part of larger effort to pressure the banks to divest immediately from the Dakota Access Pipeline family of companies, including Energy Transfer Partners (ETP). Wells Fargo is ETP’s “administrative agent,”, and is also the project’s second largest investor, with a $567 million financial stake that persists despite Energy Transfer’s recent merger with SunoCo Logistics.
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is an in-construction 1,170-mile crude oil pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois that would transport roughly 470,000 barrels of fracked oil per day, threatening the water supply that 17 million Americans depend on.
The following is a statement from Jade Begay with the Indigenous Environmental Network: “At this point in time the U.S. government has proven no alliance to The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe or to Indigenous Peoples of this country. Now more than ever we need people power to stop this pipeline and show big oil that they can not control what happens to our communities and continue to sacrifice Indigenous Peoples for the sake of profit. We need to do what is in our power and divestment is one of the strongest actions we can make as individuals.”
According to a recent Food and Water Watch study, 37 banks’ investments are fueling DAPL by extending lines of credit to the companies building it, which totaled $10.25 billion as of early-September. Because Wells Fargo plays such a key role in the pipeline’s construction, it can also play a crucial role in halting that construction, Water Protectors say.
