Julie Macuga: Big banks are funding environmental injustice

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Julie Macuga, of Burlington, who is a student at the University of Vermont studying environmental studies. She is a member of Protect Geprags.

[T]he United States no longer has a place in the Paris Agreement, which is meant to protect the planet and all its inhabitants from the ravages of climate change. I was horrified upon hearing this news, and I thought at length about the environmental and geopolitical implications. I dared to imagine the kind of future we and our children might have. Yet I could not let Trump’s decision to withdraw deflate me. How can we redouble our efforts in the face of the decision that has been made for us?

I’d marched alongside 200,000 people in the D.C. People’s Climate March a few weeks prior, and even as we passed the Trump Hotel, I couldn’t help but feel like it was a hollow effort. It was as though all we did was make a lot of noise, and to what end? In fact, with all the selfies and commerce around me, it seemed like I was a more of tourist than an activist. In our little state, we have an ecological disaster waiting to happen, which we confront because of the Vermont Gas pipeline. In many ways, it is like a miniature Standing Rock, and I fear these battles are only going to intensify with the president’s lack of foresight. The pageantry was ditched in D.C., and I opted for a different tactic back home.

This week, I strolled through UVM’s campus on Orientation Day. TD Bank, which partially funds the two pipelines mentioned, had a table there. This made my blood boil. My education is tied up in a bank that is essentially funding a genocide, brought on by new fossil fuel infrastructure. Fracking is banned in Vermont, but Vermont Gas has somehow justified importing fracked gas at the expense of the Lubicon Cree First Nations in Alberta. The Cree will face an increase in cancer rates and loss of what little land they have left. Vermont residents, human and non-human, along the route risk a similar fate now that the VGS pipeline is running. An entire population at risk so that four commercial customers could hook up to “clean and safe” natural gas!

With these thoughts in mind, I scurried off to find poster board, and perched myself on a bike rack across from TD’s table. I regained a quiet and measured composure as I scrawled “TD BANK FUNDS DAPL” in large letters and “Over $300 mil to the Dakota Access and Vermont Gas Pipelines” below it on my sign.

I was silent as admitted students and their families considered not only what classes to take, but which bank to choose. A man managing the table came over after a few minutes as the other groups gossiped about me. He offered me a doughnut, which I declined, and then he went back to his work. I was not looking to make a scene, and these were just people doing their jobs, but customers have a right to know where their money is going. Bank employees: I am sorry if you lost a few commissions because of me, but this is a matter of environmental justice. TD has a choice to make that the Sioux, Cree, Abenaki and harsh sunflowers never had.

Over just two days, few dozen people thanked me or gave a thumbs up, some asked questions, one brought water, and another even requested a photo. “Thank you for the information; you made me think,” said a thoughtful parent. I heard bits of conversations between TD staff and curious newcomers after reading my poster: They began to ask about the pipelines.

I was reminded that, as cathartic as yelling and chanting is, sometimes just having a conversation is all it takes.

I’ll never know how many decided to open an account elsewhere because of me, but I was successful in starting a dialogue. Passersby mentioned to me that they just didn’t know that this was going on. “What are you doing here?” asked a friend. “Making trouble for TD,” I replied. I told him about TD’s $300 million in the DAPL and VGS pipelines, and he told me, “I didn’t know that. That’s bad … but I know you, and you’re good. You’re doing something good here.”

Toronto Dominion should not be allowed to post their emblem all over a campus that is supposedly a leader in the sustainability movement. Several letters have been sent to UVM’s President Thomas Sullivan demanding that the university divest from TD to no avail, so I’ll be back at as many orientations as I can attend. A small amount of my time was enough to reach a handful of people, so activists, do not lose hope! Inform the public, but do not be combative.

Back in D.C., where the POTUS supposedly lives, we roared, “We will not go away, welcome to your 100th day!” But we did just that. We went away. There is a need to keep marching, but bearing in mind that it’s also important to pause, listen, and be human. We need to keep coming back and asking our opponents to speak with us. However, we must remain civil if we want a seat at the table.