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Aspen Residents Push Chase Bank To Divest From Fossil Fuels

Christin Kay
/
Aspen Public Radio

Thursday afternoon, Aspen businessman Roger Moyer and former mayor Bill Stirling hand-delivered a letter to Aspen’s Chase Bank branch addressed to CEO Jamie Dimon. The letter outlined their concerns with climate change and urged Chase to remove fossil fuel companies from its investment portfolio. 

Stirling says he’s looking to spark action at the highest levels. 

"We’re not going to solve this problem," he said, "Unless the largest corporations and companies and all the governments of the world come together." 

 

JPMorgan Chase has said it is expanding the company's commitment to a low-carbon economy and that it will put $200 billion toward green initiatives, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The financial institution also says it will not provide lending to companies who make the majority of their revenue from the extraction of coal, and that it is prohibiting project financing for new oil and gas development in the Arctic. 

Despite those initiaties, Stirling, Moyer and the group they co-chair, called the "Aspen Divestiture in Fossil Fuels Committee," argue that almost 2% of the investment portfolio at Chase is invested in fossil fuel companies. 

About ten other locals, some carrying protest signs, were in attendance Thursday.

Stirling said that the protest was inspired by environmentalist Bill McKibben’s visit to Aspen last month. 

Contributor Christin Kay is passionate about the rich variety of arts, cultural experiences and stories in the Roaring Fork Valley. She has been a devotee of public radio her whole life. Christin is a veteran of Aspen Public Radio, serving as producer, reporter and interim news director.
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