Today, Rising Tide Philly activists rallied at TD Bank’s U.S. headquarters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, holding banners, chanting, and hassling Toronto-Dominion executives during their lunch hour.
Read their press release:
“Rising Tide Philly Targets TD Bank’s Cherry Hill Headquarters Over Investments in Tar Sands and Keystone XL Pipeline
Local grassroots climate change group takes action against the largest funder of the Keystone XL pipeline and presses for a clean energy future.
Cherry Hill, NJ – On August 12th at noon, a group of citizens concerned about climate change’s effects on the Philadelphia region and on southern New Jersey will gather to peacefully protest in front of the TD Bank headquarters located at 1701 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The protesters are pushing for TD Bank to stop its funding of tar sands petroleum extraction in Alberta, Canada, because of the threat this practice presents to the global climate and to First Nation peoples in Alberta.
TD Bank is also a major funder of the Keystone XL pipeline which would bring tar sands petroleum from Alberta to Texas to be refined and exported. “We want TD Bank to withdraw its funding from both the KXL pipeline and from tar sands extraction, now,” Rising Tide Philly organizer Kevin Starbard summed up the demands.
The Monday action is organized in solidarity with a simultaneous action of hundreds of activists mobilized by CREDO, Rainforest Action Network and the Other 98% who will sit-in at the State Department in Washington, D.C. in order to hold political leaders accountable for their complicity with and inaction on climate change.
The Rising Tide Philly protest in Cherry Hill was planned with help from citizens in Texas and Oklahoma who are fighting the pipeline as part of the Tar Sands Blockade.
Philadelphia resident Rachel Leone explained the importance of connecting TD Bank and Tar Sands extraction in the environmental movement: “In order to take a stand against damaging extractive industries that not only further climate change but also destroy communities on the front lines such as the First Nations of Alberta, we are going after TD Bank for funding this destruction.”
Over 69,000 people across the nation have signed CREDO’s Pledge of Resistance against the Keystone XL Pipeline. As these actions become more and more imminent, Rising Tide Philly will continue to target TD Bank for their profiteering from climate disaster and genocide of indigenous people in Alberta.”
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This action is part of an ongoing campaign against TD’s large investments in Keystone XL and the tar sands industry. A quick recap of some of the campaign’s actions so far:
-During our March Week of Action to Stop Tar Sands Profiteers, people shut down several TD Banks and rallied at several others.
During the Fearless Summer week of action, June 24-29:
-Protesters in DC marched on two TD Banks.
-We elicited anger and frantic damage-control from TD by issuing a fake press release in which TD promised to divest from tar sands.
-Houston activists surprised TD Securities executives by appearing at their office to “thank” them for divesting.
This campaign will continue until TD lives up to it’s pledge to be “As Green As Our Logo” and divests from all tar sands projects. Click here for a map of TD Bank locations to begin planning your own action.
