Hill Heat: Enviros Criticize, Fete Ken Lewis of Bank of America For Climate InfluenceScience Policy Legislation Actiontag:www.hillheat.com,2005:TypoTypo2008-04-04T07:09:03-04:00Wonk Roomurn:uuid:a1a5bd15-eb68-446b-936d-74cbab71bab02008-04-04T07:04:00-04:002008-04-04T07:09:03-04:00Enviros Criticize, Fete Ken Lewis of Bank of America For Climate Influence<p><i>Originally posted at the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/04/03/bank-of-america-enviro/">Think Progress Wonk Room</a>.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/bofa.JPG" alt="bofa" / style="float:right;margin-left:10px" />Bank of America <span class="caps">CEO</span> Kenneth D. Lewis received <a href="http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/04/02/bofa-adopts-carbon-principles-ceo-voted-fossil-fool-of-the-year/">two utterly different awards</a> from environmental groups on Tuesday, April 1—the Energy Action Coalition and Rainforest Action Network (RAN) voted him the “<a href="http://energyactioncoalition.org/foolies/">Fossil Fool of the Year</a>,” while the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) honored him at their annual fundraising gala as a “<a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-01-2008/0004784267&EDATE=">Force for Nature</a>.”</p>
<p>Rebecca Tarbotton of <span class="caps">RAN</span> said, “Ken Lewis faced a who’s who list of polluters, but voters deemed him the <a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1321473/bank_of_america_ceo_kenneth_lewis_named_fossil_fool_of/">worst of a very deserving crop</a>.”</p>
<p>Frances Beinecke of <span class="caps">NRDC</span> said, “We have the know-how to beat global warming. What we need is the leadership to make it happen, and <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-01-2008/0004784267&EDATE=">Ken Lewis is providing that leadership</a>.”</p>
<p>Climate and environmental activists celebrated “Fossil Fools Day” yesterday, April 1, with <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/category/front-page/">actions across the globe</a> protesting the fossil fuel industry. Heeding Al Gore’s call for “<a href="http://select.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/opinion/16kristof.html">young people to engage in peaceful protests to block major new carbon sources,</a>” they blockaded <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/2008/04/01/protesters-shut-down-open-cast-coal-mine-wales/">coal mines</a>, <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/2008/04/01/8-arrested-as-north-carolina-residents-shut-down-construction-at-cliffside-coal-plant/">coal plants</a>, and <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/2008/04/01/climate-activists-blockade-e-on-in-nottingham-uk/">energy company headquarters</a>.</p>
<p>As part of the day of action, the Energy Action Coalition dedicated the <a href="http://energyactioncoalition.org/foolies/">Fossil Fools Awards</a> to “the world’s biggest contributors to our global addiction to fossil fuels.” Kenneth Lewis won top honors for facilitating “<a href="http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/2007/06/08/asheville-rising-tide-confronts-bank-of-america-for-investments-in-coal-industry/">nearly $1 billion in loans to Massey Energy and Arch Coal</a>, two of the largest companies involved in the environmentally devastating process of mountaintop removal coal mining” in the last few years. Bank of America also <a href="http://www.crmw.net/tools/Handouts%20&%20Flyers/BOA_Financial.pdf">made several billion dollars in loans and facilitated stock offerings in 2006</a> for Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private coal company.</p>
<p><span class="caps">NRDC</span>’s tenth annual “Forces for Nature” $1000-a-plate fundraising gala <a href="http://www.e2.org/jsp/controller?docId=14777#calendar">feted Ken Lewis and <span class="caps">NYC</span> mayor Michael Bloomberg</a> at Cipriani 42nd Street.</p>
<p><span class="caps">NRDC</span> honored Lewis for Bank of America’s ten-year, $20 billion environmental initiative which “addresses climate change by championing sustainable business practices through innovative lending and investing strategies, new financial products and services and operations.” The initiative was launched <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-06-2007/0004540270&EDATE=">last year</a>. The new Bank of America Tower in New York City, when completed in 2009, will be <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/120056">one of the most environmentally friendly and efficient office
buildings in the world</a>.</p>
<p>At the <span class="caps">NRDC</span> gala, Lewis made the major announcement that <a href="http://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=8124">Bank of America would adopt the Carbon Principles</a>, “a set of guidelines that help advisors and lenders to power companies evaluate and address carbon risks in the financing of projects” drafted in January by Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley. According to the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/02/bank-of-america-more-heat-on-coal/?mod=WSJBlog">Wall Street Journal</a>, “the ‘Principles’ push utilities to explore other alternatives to regular coal plants . . . Still, the banks make clear they won’t stop funding all conventional coal plants—they’ll simply want assurances higher rates will cover likely costs of carbon.”</p><p><i>Originally posted at the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/04/03/bank-of-america-enviro/">Think Progress Wonk Room</a>.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/bofa.JPG" alt="bofa" / style="float:right;margin-left:10px" />Bank of America <span class="caps">CEO</span> Kenneth D. Lewis received <a href="http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/04/02/bofa-adopts-carbon-principles-ceo-voted-fossil-fool-of-the-year/">two utterly different awards</a> from environmental groups on Tuesday, April 1—the Energy Action Coalition and Rainforest Action Network (RAN) voted him the “<a href="http://energyactioncoalition.org/foolies/">Fossil Fool of the Year</a>,” while the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) honored him at their annual fundraising gala as a “<a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-01-2008/0004784267&EDATE=">Force for Nature</a>.”</p>
<p>Rebecca Tarbotton of <span class="caps">RAN</span> said, “Ken Lewis faced a who’s who list of polluters, but voters deemed him the <a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1321473/bank_of_america_ceo_kenneth_lewis_named_fossil_fool_of/">worst of a very deserving crop</a>.”</p>
<p>Frances Beinecke of <span class="caps">NRDC</span> said, “We have the know-how to beat global warming. What we need is the leadership to make it happen, and <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-01-2008/0004784267&EDATE=">Ken Lewis is providing that leadership</a>.”</p>
<p>Climate and environmental activists celebrated “Fossil Fools Day” yesterday, April 1, with <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/category/front-page/">actions across the globe</a> protesting the fossil fuel industry. Heeding Al Gore’s call for “<a href="http://select.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/opinion/16kristof.html">young people to engage in peaceful protests to block major new carbon sources,</a>” they blockaded <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/2008/04/01/protesters-shut-down-open-cast-coal-mine-wales/">coal mines</a>, <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/2008/04/01/8-arrested-as-north-carolina-residents-shut-down-construction-at-cliffside-coal-plant/">coal plants</a>, and <a href="http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/2008/04/01/climate-activists-blockade-e-on-in-nottingham-uk/">energy company headquarters</a>.</p>
<p>As part of the day of action, the Energy Action Coalition dedicated the <a href="http://energyactioncoalition.org/foolies/">Fossil Fools Awards</a> to “the world’s biggest contributors to our global addiction to fossil fuels.” Kenneth Lewis won top honors for facilitating “<a href="http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/2007/06/08/asheville-rising-tide-confronts-bank-of-america-for-investments-in-coal-industry/">nearly $1 billion in loans to Massey Energy and Arch Coal</a>, two of the largest companies involved in the environmentally devastating process of mountaintop removal coal mining” in the last few years. Bank of America also <a href="http://www.crmw.net/tools/Handouts%20&%20Flyers/BOA_Financial.pdf">made several billion dollars in loans and facilitated stock offerings in 2006</a> for Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private coal company.</p>
<p><span class="caps">NRDC</span>’s tenth annual “Forces for Nature” $1000-a-plate fundraising gala <a href="http://www.e2.org/jsp/controller?docId=14777#calendar">feted Ken Lewis and <span class="caps">NYC</span> mayor Michael Bloomberg</a> at Cipriani 42nd Street.</p>
<p><span class="caps">NRDC</span> honored Lewis for Bank of America’s ten-year, $20 billion environmental initiative which “addresses climate change by championing sustainable business practices through innovative lending and investing strategies, new financial products and services and operations.” The initiative was launched <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-06-2007/0004540270&EDATE=">last year</a>. The new Bank of America Tower in New York City, when completed in 2009, will be <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/120056">one of the most environmentally friendly and efficient office
buildings in the world</a>.</p>
<p>At the <span class="caps">NRDC</span> gala, Lewis made the major announcement that <a href="http://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=8124">Bank of America would adopt the Carbon Principles</a>, “a set of guidelines that help advisors and lenders to power companies evaluate and address carbon risks in the financing of projects” drafted in January by Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley. According to the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/02/bank-of-america-more-heat-on-coal/?mod=WSJBlog">Wall Street Journal</a>, “the ‘Principles’ push utilities to explore other alternatives to regular coal plants . . . Still, the banks make clear they won’t stop funding all conventional coal plants—they’ll simply want assurances higher rates will cover likely costs of carbon.”</p>