Activists Greet Boston Commuters By Hanging "Drop Dirty Banks" Banners Along Storrow Drive

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion Boston (XR Boston), many of whom were arrested at Hanscom Field last year interacted with traffic along Storrow Drive between 8 am and 9 am today by hanging large banners from the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge, Dartmouth Street Footbridge, and Fairfield Street Footbridge. The banners read "Does your bank fund climate change?", "Does your bank fund war?", and "Drop your dirty bank!" Traffic slowed as commuters craned their necks to read and process the messages. Organizers said that their goal was to wake up morning commuters to the fact that "the banks where they keep their checking and savings accounts and which issue their credit cards are using their funds to finance the worst attacks on the climate: new oil and gas infrastructure and war."

The world’s 65 biggest banks committed $7.9 trillion in just over 9 years to the fossil fuel industry, driving climate chaos & deadly health impacts. Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and TD bank contributed $175 billion in 2022 alone. If the public successfully shames them into cutting off this funding, we can end the era of fossil fuels faster and move those investments to low carbon alternative energy sources. For more information, explore Banking on Climate Chaos.

Activist and Jamaica Plain resident May Moreshet smiled as the banners hung in the morning breeze. When asked why she participated in this act of peaceful non-violent civil disobedience, Moreshet said, "When we face atrocities, we often have a need to identify the villains and bring them to justice. But life isn't always that simple, and I believe it's our economic system that is to blame more than any specific individuals. By targeting big banks we are getting at the heart of the problem, and tugging at the thread that can start to unravel this exploitative system which destroys our planet and robs us of our humanity. Divesting from these institutions is something we can do individually with a very powerful collective impact."

When asked how she hopes commuters will respond to the banners, activist and sociologist PhD candidate Miranda Dotson said, “If you believe that climate change is bad for life on earth, including yours, then dropping dirty banks is a requirement. It is among the most impactful things an individual can do to limit the apocalyptic power of fossil fuel billionaires. So put your money where your mouth is, and close those accounts.”

This isn't the first time XR Boston has spoken out against the influence of banks on the escalating climate crisis. In October 2023, more than 15 activists with the Rainbow Rebellion, a queer-led group within XR Boston, entered the lobbies of major banks around downtown Boston dressed in drag as gender-bending custodians and maids to "clean up" the banks' fossil fuel funding. The activists went into Chase Bank, Bank of America, TD Bank, and PNC Bank, and disrupted bank activities by pretending to clean up their lobbies with mops, dusters, and brooms while dancing to "I Want to Break Free" by Queen. Videos of this demonstration quickly spread on Instagram and TikTok.

These "dirty banks" aren't just funding the climate crisis; they're also directly supporting ongoing genocide in Palestine. According to Banktrack.org, "An investigation conducted by Netherlands-based financial research group Profundo and published by Dutch NGOs BankTrack and PAX has found that a small number of investment banks have played a crucial role in helping Israel meet the 'significant funding needs' arising from its war on Gaza by providing significant underwriting services to the Israeli state."

The report also states, "Goldman Sachs is by far the largest institution listed, having underwritten more than $7 billion in Israeli “war bonds” since the start of the Israel-Gaza war. The other financial institutions identified by the investigation are Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi, Barclays, and JPMorgan Chase." Longtime XR Boston member Monty Niell says, "Big banks are funding climate catastrophe and the genocidal attack on Palestinians. They don't care how much death and destruction they cause if they can make more money. I encourage people to move their accounts to other banks, local ones, to tell the banks you oppose their actions."

XR Boston's longer campaign about "dirty banks" more recently included a standout in front of the Chase Bank in Brighton to encourage college students not to patronize a dirty bank like Chase. Rather, XR Boston encourages students to put their money to work through a local bank that invests in local businesses, rather than in accelerating the climate crisis and the infrastructure of war and deportation. Young people are becoming increasingly vocal in the face of runaway bank control over escalating climate crisis and global genocide. Today's demonstration comes on the heels of police officers forcibly dispersing a pro-Palestine encampment at Boston University on Monday.

XR Boston activist Sophia Pinto Thomas recently graduated from Boston University, where she was a recognizable face in both climate and pro-Palestine groups. Thomas says, "Banks are a big avenue of blood money in our society. I’m excited for an opportunity to remind and re-illuminate this issue for people, that their bank might be funding oil or gas or bombs, that not everything we do is as innocent as we want to believe. We need to grab people’s attention and shake them out of their stupor. People are dying. The planet is dying. Every small step we take to divest from evil and redirect our resources is a good step to take, and now is the time to do it!”