Opponents of a proposed natural gas pipeline in Virginia are starting a divestment campaign, a tactic that has grown in popularity among climate and anti-pipeline activists in recent years, to persuade banks to end their financing of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Landowners and environmentalists opposed to the southwestern Virginia pipeline are calling on customers to move their money out of the top six U.S. banks behind the pipeline, led by Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
“Our analysis shows that Bank of America and Wells Fargo are signed up to funnel the most money into this polluting pipeline,” said Lorne Stockman, a senior research analyst at Oil Change International who co-authored a new report on how the Mountain Valley Pipeline would be financed.
In February, Seattle’s city council, for example, voted to sever the city’s ties with Wells Fargo over the bank’s funding of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 301-mile, $3.5 billion pipeline project, are hoping their divestment campaign also captures the attention of cities and institutions that do business with the banks financing the pipeline.
“The corporate funding of EQM is directly linked to the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, which strengthens the call for divestment,” Oil Change International’s Trout said.
“As discussed in the company’s quarterly and annual filings, the credit facility is available, should EQM choose to use it, to support any of EQT Midstream Partners’ several projects and programs,” EQM said.
Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, SunTrust, and U.S. Bank are each funding EQM’s credit facility and each purchased significant amounts of EQM’s recently issued senior notes, according to Oil Change International.
Roanoke, Virginia-based RGC Midstream entered into a five-year $25 million credit agreement with Union Bank & Trust and Branch Banking & Trust in December 2015 for the express purpose of financing its 1 percent stake in the Mountain Valley Pipeline, Oil Change International explains in the report.
Wells Fargo, PNC, and SunTrust are each funding EQM with $86 million, while U.S. Bank and BNP Paribas follow at roughly $76 million, according to Oil Change International.