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SW: →May 2011: Protests target banks in Portland, Oregon: internal link
===May 2011: Protests target banks in Portland, Oregon===
On Friday, May 9th, 2011 two bank branches in downtown Portland, Oregon, one belonging to Bank of America and the other to [[Wells Fargo]], were targeted by approximately 30 activists who showed up to protest the banks’ investments in coal projects. Both banks are major lenders to [[Arch Coal]], the second biggest coal company in the United States. Arch Coal was targeted because, along with [[Ambre Energy]], it is responsible for the proposed [[Millennium Bulk Logistics Longview Terminal]] near Longview, Washington. Arch Coal also owns the [[Otter Creek]] coal mine in Montana, which the company hopes to use as a source of coal to be exported.
Protesters assembled by Portland's Reed College entered the banks as mock coal export trains, which they believed will expose Northwest residents to coal dust, diesel fumes and noise pollution if the coal export facility near Longview becomes operational. A multi-car human ”coal train” entered the banks and marched around the bank's lobby, temporarily disrupting business inside. Climate activists chanted “Hey hey, B of A: Stop investing in coal today!” And later, “Hey hey, Wells Fargo: You say coal, we say no!”<ref>[http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2011/05/15/coal-train-visits-bank-of-america-and-wells-fargo/ "Coal Train Visits Bank of America and Wells Fargo"] Nick Englefried, It's Getting Hot in Here, May 15, 2011.</ref>
