Blank"Several lenders, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and others, have developed internal lending policies that limit or eliminate their relationships with mining outfits that engage in mountaintop removal mining, which is precisely as it sounds: mining companies simply blast off mountaintops to quickly (and cheaply) gain access to coal seams, dumping the debris in valleys below.
"The banks appear to be wagering that mountaintop removal has become sufficiently objectionable that it threatens their reputations if they’re seen as connected to it — something opponents have become all too happy to expose.
"The policies also suggest that the environmental risk divisions within these banks believe that the regulatory noose is tightening around this and other forms of extreme surface mining — making it a risky investment on its face."
More at: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/new-fault-lines-in-mountaintop-coa...
