Earlier this year, Science published a paper outlining the impacts of mountain top removal (MTR), more commonly referred to as mountaintop mining. Surprisingly, the practice of mining the surface of mountaintops is completely legal and fairly common in the Appalachian Mountains, and has gone on for quite some time without major opposition until this year. Now, MTR companies are feeling the pressure from another source–banks.
In the past, mining companies did not have a problem getting bank loans, but in the past year or so, banks are revising their lending policies significantly to deal with the economic crisis. Wells Fargo has revealed that their new policies on lending reflect the increased awareness of the environmental impact that MTR has on the area and implemented measures that will discourage lending to companies that have a direct impact on the environment in a negative way.
Other lending institutions have changed their policies to side with more “environmentally friendly” causes, as it has become obvious that the impacts of MTR and other processes have devastating and irreversible effects on our environment.
Here’s to hoping that other major institutions will follow suit!
