Gene Myers

Staff Writer, @myersgene

Between 30 and 40 activists gathered Saturday at a Bank of America in Teaneck to protest the funding of an oil pipeline.

Standing outside the bank branch on Palisade Avenue in front of Railroad Plaza they picketed, chanted and sang protest songs. They warned of oil tank cars they called “bomb trains” while they took aim at big banks.

Specifically, three banks were in their crosshairs: Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase. These were banks that they said were tied through investments to the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL.

The 1,100-mile pipeline that’s being built to transport fracked oil from North Dakota to locations across the country made headlines this winter when pipeline workers met resistance at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Matt Smith, senior organizer with Food and Water Watch, said the clashes in North Dakota inspired him to get involved in this environmental fight. Through research he found a list of publicly traded banks and went through their financial disclosure statements to find that these banks were supporting the DAP in various ways, including direct investments and credit lines issued to companies involved.

Organizers picked these three from their list because of their highly visible locations.

“You can't drink money. You can't drink oil. Bank of America keep it in the soil,” the group yelled in front of the bank while its own security guards mixed with local police around the perimeter of the peaceful event.

From the Bank of America they marched to the Wells Fargo Bank on Cedar Land and finished up two hours later at Chase Bank on Cedar Lane. Organizer Paula Rogovin led the way. She said the goal for the day was to call on the banks to cut off their lines of credit for companies involved with the construction of the DAPL. Demonstrators also wanted to share their concerns with passersby.

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Picketers represented many local groups, including Bergen County climate, environmental and progressive organizations: The Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains, Food and Water Watch New Jersey, Sierra Club New Jersey, Bergen County Green Party, ClimateMama, Occupy Bergen County, Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, Puffin Cultural Forum and Bronx Climate Justice North.

“We are against the pipeline and we are divesting our money from major banks,” said Buddy Jansen, chairman of the North Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club. “We have had enough of pipelines. They don't benefit the community. They endanger our water and we don't get a discount on oil and gas.”

Jansen said he was taking his money out of Wells Fargo putting it in an account at a community bank.

“They strengthen the community,” he said. “These guys are all about big business. When you go to a community bank, you're helping the community.”

Rogovin focused the group on her as she spoke through a bullhorn.



“I have some good news from one of the divestors,” she said. “It's a big amount.” Rogovin said that the day’s events led to more than $1 million in divestments.

Allen Howard held up one side of a large blue sign that read, “Water is life.” He came from Piscataway for this. Like many in this crowd, he belongs to more than one advocacy group. Howard is with Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline and the Sierra Club and Water Watch. He said his wife is taking her money out of Wells Fargo today. He used to have an account with Bank of America but he “pulled it out a while ago.”

People offered many reasons for divesting – or taking their money out of these banks – like their corporate investments support drilling, oil pipelines and other parts of fossil fuel industry that they think is harmful to the environment.

“Their money is against us. Why should we support them? They are investing in things that are very harmful to the environment and our future. I have children and grandchildren. It's harmful to their future as well,” Howard said.

Earlier this month, according to various media outlets, Seattle’s City Council decided not to renew a contract with Wells Fargo over the bank’s involvement with the pipeline. San Franscico plans to do the same.

According to the website Defunddapl.org (where the day’s participants went to register their account closings), personal divestments total over $76 million and the total dollar amount for municipal divestments is about $5 billion.

Marge Schneider, from Bergenfield, said she has been an activist for years.

“My belief, as an activist for most of my life, is that the only power that we have is only in the dollar, unfortunately. We are not connecting to our politicians. They listen to the dollar. We are in front of these banks trying to encourage people who are going inside to divest,” Schneider said. “These big banks are heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry, which is supporting the DAPL pipelines. If people really understood their power as individuals and would do something like divest, and put their money into local banks, credit unions, that are more compassionate, more concerned with our needs as a people. "We are being run by corporate powers by and large. The only way that I believe that we can connect with them is if we withdraw the dollars.”

Email: myers@northjersey.com