More News

Bank of America customers were greeted by more than 30 University of Maryland, College Park, students chanting and lying on the sidewalk in front of the College Park branch on Route 1 on Friday.

The protest was part of the "National Day of Action" coordinated by the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco, protesting Bank of America's investments in coal mining companies.

Students at the protest were especially concerned that Bank of America invests in companies that use mountain top removal. The process – in which miners remove approximately 1,000 feet of a mountain's surface with explosives to access seams of coal – can cause water and air pollution.

"It's an effort to get Bank of America to divest from dirty energy practices, mountain top removal and building new coal-fired power plants," UM student Davey Rogner said.

According to a RAN press release, Bank of America invests more than $6 billion in funding for coal mining companies since 2000.

Protests were also held in Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County.

Ernie Anguilla, local spokesman for Bank of America, said the company recently allotted $20 billion over the next 10 years for renewable energy research.

"We support, adopt and adhere to all leading practices in managing coal, including the carbon principals," he said. "We're placing additional emphasis on advanced technology, including carbon capture and storage. We're working with utility companies through investment in financing."

UM sophomore Ali Adler participated in the protest and said she is considering closing her Bank of America account and moving her money to another bank.

"It really bothers me that my money's in a bank where they're investing in such harmful practices," she said.

Adler said mountain top removal is not only an environmental concern but a health concern as well.

"It pollutes the air and the water of the surrounding communities," she said. "Those communities are not able to fight back."

Anguilla was not able to comment specifically on mountain top removal because of an ongoing lawsuit over the practice, but said all the companies Bank of America invests in "comply with all safety laws and regulations and environmental regulations."

"As a nation, more than 50 percent of the electricity we consume comes from coal," he said. "It's our goal to reduce that number, but to suggest that we stop financing coal in the short term is unrealistic."

Adler said corporations have to be the catalyst for starting the switch to renewable energy because they have the money to fund it.

"If major players in the economic community aren't investing in renewable energy, it won't get the kind of investment it needs to get off the ground," she said. "We really need major corporations, that are strong, to jump on board and take part."

Prince George's County police were on hand at the protest, but did not have to involve themselves at any point.