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You've got to be kidding me. I realize it's important to look at the positive aspects of what powerful players like the banks are doing, but it's also important to put things into perspective and realize 1) what represents balance; 2) how ridiculously, unacceptably far RBC and most of the other banks are from that and 3) what amounts to little more than clever PR, all the while maintaining status quo. <BR>
<BR>
To put it into mathematical perspective, RBC's net surplus funding of fossil fuels (total fossil fuel funding less total renewables funding) of CDN$14.2 billion is about 284 times more than their CDN$50 million investment in the blue water project (of which they've apparently only released CDN$9.5 million so far).<BR>
<BR>
It would be as if I gave you a $1000 cash donation - and then sauntered over to Activa's local headquarters and gave them $284000, with the understanding that they would only spend it directly on ruining water quality and supply and ecosystem health. <BR>
<BR>
I'm sorry, but putting positive spin on this story in RBC's favour borders on the implausible. What it tells me is that at present they have very little intention of becoming good corporate environmental citizens in substance - mainly in appearance. When <STRONG>real</STRONG> things like livable climate and environment are at stake here - appearance doesn't count for much. <BR>
<BR>
I think the attached articles speak eloquently to this. <BR>
<BR>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><A href="http://joshuakahnrussell.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/toronto-activists-award-rbc-fossil-fool-of-the-year-for-tar-sands-financing/"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>http://joshuakahnrussell.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/toronto-activists-award-rbc-fossil-fool-of-the-year-for-tar-sands-financing/</FONT></A></P>
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<H3 style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 4.2pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="mso-ansi-language: EN"><o:p><FONT face=Helvetica> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></H3>
<H3 style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 4.2pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT face=Helvetica>http://www.tarsandswatch.org/banks-add-tonnes-carbon-footprint-study-says<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></H3>
<H3 style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 4.2pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="mso-ansi-language: EN"><o:p><FONT face=Helvetica> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></H3>
<H3 style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 4.2pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT face=Helvetica>Banks add tonnes to carbon footprint, study says<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></H3>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.8pt"><STRONG><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">Posted: </SPAN></STRONG><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">November 20, 2008 <BR><STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Section:</SPAN></STRONG> Global Warming<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">Hanneke Brooymans, November 20, 2008, The Edmonton Journal -- Canada's five largest banks financed emissions of 624 million tonnes of carbon dioxide last year in the form of oil, gas and coal operations, a new study says.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">To put this in context, Canada's greenhouse gas emissions from all energy use across the country -- including all power plants, industry and manufacturing, transportation, homes and offices -- totalled 583 million tonnes of CO2 in 2006, says the report, written by the Rainforest Action Network.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">There is some overlap in those two numbers, but not all fossil fuels produced in the country are burned here. In total, 721 million tonnes of greenhouse gases were released in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> in 2006.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">The network is particularly concerned about oilsands development, because if all the projected investments go through, greenhouse gas emissions from that sector would double by 2012, negating <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s reduction targets for green-house gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">"Banks play a very key role in the process of addressing climate change as financiers of both the drivers of climate change -- fossil fuels -- and also the financiers of clean energy and other low carbon solutions we're going to need to address the climate crisis," said Bill Barclay, lead author of Financing Global Warming: Canadian Banks and Fossil Fuels. (The full report is available at <A title=www.climatefriendlybanking.org/bankreport href="http://www.climatefriendlybanking.org/bankreport"><SPAN style="COLOR: #9f2a22">www.climatefriendlybanking.org/bankreport</SPAN></A>.)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">While banks often track and report the carbon emissions associated with running their offices and staff travels, such "operational emissions" are dwarfed by the volume of climate-changing emissions that result from the projects they finance, so-called "financed emissions," says the report.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">The decisions these top banks make greatly impact the trajectory of the country's future greenhouse gas emissions.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">"The resistance of banks to address the climate impacts of their financing jeopardizes the climate, the economy, and public health," the report goes on to say.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">The banks in question are RBC, TD Bank, Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO. The report also looks at the practices of Desjardins and Vancity.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">RBC was listed as the bank with the most financing of fossil fuel projects.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">"We agree climate change is a really important global challenge," said Stephanie Lu, an RBC spokeswoman, "and we've been doing a lot for some time to do our part." She said RBC requires project proponents to conduct a comprehensive social and environmental review of the impacts of projects as a condition of financing.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">"We actually are building our portfolio to support renewable energy and clean technology," Lu said. "We provide investment banking, financing and advisory services to clients in the renewable energy sector, including wind farms, hydro-electric power and biomass installations."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">She said RBC practises a high level of due diligence to identify, assess and help lessen the environmental risks associated with lending to their clients.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">Still, Barclay noted fossil-fuel projects received 14 times more money than renewable energy projects.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">"These ratios will have to shift dramatically as we fight climate change," he said.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">Individuals can help, too. A person's choice of bank can have a large impact on their personal carbon footprint, Barclay said. Banks leverage every dollar deposited into $10 to $15 of new lending. Deposit accounts held in any of the top five high-carbon banks have carbon footprints ranging from 970 to 1,430 kilograms larger per $10,000 than a deposit account held in Vancity, the lowest carbon bank, and 25 to 38 times larger than Desjardins, the second-lowest-carbon bank.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">Joseph Doucet doesn't think this information will influence people to move their accounts. "People don't change their bank accounts too often," said Doucet, a professor of energy and economic policy in the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Business</st1:PlaceName> at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Alberta</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">There aren't a lot of banking options in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> and it can be complicated and time-consuming to move routine transactions, like direct deposits and payments, between accounts, he said.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">Doucet also thinks the Rainforest Action Network is focusing its attention on the wrong player.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">"The banks aren't project developers," he said. "The banks are there with suitcases of cash and they wait for someone to come to them with project proposals."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">BY THE NUMBERS<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">- Direct fossil fuels funding: RBC $15.9 billion; TD $7.9 billion; Scotiabank $12 billion; BMO $10.2 billion; CIBC $9.2 billion; Desjardins $0.23 billion; Vancity $0<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">- Direct renewable energy funding: RBC $1.7 billion; TD $0.8 billion; Scotiabank $1.5 billion; BMO $0.7 billion; CIBC $2.1 billion; Desjardins $0.01 billion; Vancity $0<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 6pt 6pt 13.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN">- Total financed carbon dioxide as percentage of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s total energy emissions: RBC 34 per cent; TD 21 per cent; Scotiabank 15 per cent; BMO 17 per cent; CIBC 17 per cent; Desjardins three per cent; Vancity less than 0.1 per cent<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 8.35pt 4.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-outline-level: 3"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 8.35pt 4.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-outline-level: 3"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">http://understory.ran.org/2009/09/24/gord-nixon-off-balance/#more-4039<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 8.35pt 4.2pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-outline-level: 3"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica"><A title="Permanent Link to Gord Nixon: Off Balance" href="http://understory.ran.org/2009/09/24/gord-nixon-off-balance/"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Gord Nixon: Off Balance</SPAN></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">posted by Brant in <A title="View all posts in Freedom from Oil" href="http://understory.ran.org/category/zero-emissions/"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Freedom from Oil</SPAN></A>, <A title="View all posts in RAN General" href="http://understory.ran.org/category/ran/"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">RAN General</SPAN></A> on September 24th, 2009<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica"><A href="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/00003/GordNixonRBCroyalb_3249artw.jpg"></A></SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><v:shape id=_x0000_s1026 style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; Z-INDEX: 1; LEFT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 131.75pt; WIDTH: 171.75pt; POSITION: absolute; HEIGHT: 111.75pt; TEXT-ALIGN: left; mso-wrap-distance-left: 0; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-distance-right: 0; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-position-horizontal: right; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-vertical-relative: line" href="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/00003/GordNixonRBCroyalb_3249artw.jpg" type="#_x0000_t75" o:button="t" o:allowoverlap="f" alt="Photo Credit: Globe and Mail"><v:imagedata o:title="GordNixonRBCroyalb_3249artw" src="file:///C:\Users\007\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></v:imagedata><?xml:namespace prefix = w ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" /><w:wrap type="square"></w:wrap></v:shape><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; mso-no-proof: yes"><A href="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/00003/GordNixonRBCroyalb_3249artw.jpg"></A></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">RBC CEO Gord Nixon should be putting his bank’s money where his mouth is. Last week, he offered an incoherent defense of RBC’s “<A href="http://www.thestar.com/business/article/696510"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">balanced approach</SPAN></A>” to the environment after RAN activists confronted him on the bank’s financial support for expansion of <A href="http://ran.org/tarsands"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Canada’s tar sands</SPAN></A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">Recognizing his stumble, Nelson hit the papers this week to explain. “You can’t over-emphasize the environment at huge cost to the economy” <A href="http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1993916"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Nixon told the National Post</SPAN></A>, “and at the same time you cannot do things economically that are a huge cost to the environment.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">Below the surface, though, RBC’s “balanced approach” is anything but.<SPAN id=more-4039></SPAN> Nixon clarifies that the Bank’s environmental commitment “…doesn’t mean you can’t lend to someone in the oil sands.” In fact, with more than <A href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tPdRqVceNfihWH-0tL2qVVQ&single=true&gid=1&output=html"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">$14.3 billion (USD)</SPAN></A> in credit extended since to the sector 2007, nobody lends more to oil sands companies than RBC.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">Compare this with RBC’s environmental commitments. Nixon points to RBC’s Blue Water Project<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">“…which, at $50-million, is the biggest philanthropic project for the bank. It is dedicated towards water initiatives in the world from financings that impact wetlands to financing clean-water projects or drilling wells in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nicaragua</st1:place></st1:country-region>. We try to do our part.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">Look under the hood, though, and The Blue Water Project looks more like a public relations project. Three years since its launch, the bank has issued just $9.5 million in grants. During the same time period, RBC earned more than <A href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tPdRqVceNfihWH-0tL2qVVQ&single=true&gid=0&output=html"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">$84 million (USD)</SPAN></A> in underwriting fees from tar sands companies. How’s that for balance?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 4.2pt 4.2pt 12.55pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">If Nixon were serious about sustainability, he would recognize that the tar sands need to be stopped. That was the recommendation <A href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Canada%20failing%20fight%20against%20climate%20change%20panel%20says/2016158/story.html"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">earlier this week</SPAN></A> from Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. French Bank <A href="http://www.dexia.com/docs/2008/2008_news/20081110_Energy_sector_guidelines_UK.pdf" modo="false"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Dexia </SPAN></A>and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s<A href="http://www.goodwithmoney.co.uk/ethical-banking/"><SPAN style="COLOR: #669933; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"> Co-Op Bank</SPAN></A> have both established policies that maintain shareholder returns while effectively prohibiting any lending to tar sands companies. RBC should seek a similar balance.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; LETTER-SPACING: 0.85pt">Mrs. Nixon, please help us</SPAN></B><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 33pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; LETTER-SPACING: 0.85pt"> </SPAN></B><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; LETTER-SPACING: 0.85pt">stop the tar sands</SPAN></B><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 33pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; LETTER-SPACING: 0.85pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></B><BR></TD>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><FONT face="Times New Roman">Published by Joshua Kahn Russell<BR>July 28th, 2009<BR><BR>During rush-hour commute this morning, two Indigenous Canadian women – Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, and Heather Milton-Lightening – scaled flagpoles in front of the main entrance of Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC’s) headquarters in Toronto, dropping a banner reading “Please Help Us Mrs. Nixon.com” – appealing to the bank to pull its massive investments in Alberta tar sands projects.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> </SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><FONT face="Times New Roman">Supported by RAN, the Ruckus Society, and their Indigenous People’s Power Project, they were joined by dozens of Toronto RAN activists, swarming entrances to ensure every RBC employee heard our appeal Mrs. Janet Nixon, the wife of RBC CEO Gordon Nixon, to lend her strong and influential voice to those fighting to protect Canada’s clean water and respect Indigenous rights by pushing RBC to stop bankrolling the tar sands. They handed out flyers, held banners, and even circled the building on bikes with “Please Help Us Mrs. Nixon.com” flags.<BR><BR>RBC is the ATM of the Tar Sands.<BR><BR>They are a leading investor in what has been called the dirtiest project on Earth and is one of the greatest social and ecological injustices of our time. Unless they’re stopped by grassroots pressure, oil companies will transform a boreal forest the size of Florida into an industrial sacrifice zone – complete with lakes full of toxic waste that are so big that you can see them from outer space. Tar sands projects poison First Nations Communities, pollute precious water resources, kill wildlife, and are the single biggest contributor to global warming from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<BR><BR>At the same time as the banner was being unfurled, thousands of RAN supporters and allies began emailing a video to key RBC executives – in which RAN’s Michael Brune appeals to Mrs. Nixon to help RBC offer leadership by withdrawing its funding for the tar sands. (If you haven’t participated in this online action yet, it’s not too late! You can view the video at www.PleaseHelpUsMrsNixon.com and take action when you're done watching.)<BR><BR>The banner was up for over two hours, and a large crowd of people gathered to watch. Several RBC executives also joined us, watching in embarrassment. In the end, the police let the two climbers go without making any arrests; the climbers were given citations.<BR><BR>This action is also the culmination of a month-long guerrilla wheatpasting campaign by RAN Toronto, who have covered the city with hundreds of posters bearing the message “Please Help Us Mrs. Nixon” – leaving people in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:City> wondering what these posters are all about. (But in case Janet Nixon herself was unsure who she was being asked to help, we had a letter from RAN delivered to her home address yesterday.)<BR><BR>While Janet Nixon is the wife of RBC’s CEO, we are appealing her today because she is also a committed environmentalist, and has been instrumental in shaping RBC’s Blue Water Project. But while pledging $50 million to help fight water pollution over the next ten years, RBC has loaned $2.3 billion to tar sands companies in the last two years alone.<BR><BR>We stand at a cross roads. Does RBC want to help lead our country by investing in clean renewable energy? Or continue to scrape the bottom of the barrel of dirty oil at a cost far too high? Tar sands oil expansion is devastating the regional environment, contaminating <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>’s precious water supply, endangering wildlife, threatening First Nations’ health and preventing <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> from meeting its climate commitments. Indigenous First Nations communities downstream have experienced polluted water, water reductions in rivers and aquifers, increased cancer, and declines in wildlife population that threaten to destroy their traditional ways of life.<BR><BR>RBC has a critical role to play in investing in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s clean energy future. RBC must require clients to provide evidence of free, prior and informed consent from First Nations on projects affecting their communities, as the first step of a phase-out of financing and advisory services to all tar sands projects which have adverse impacts on the environment. The bank must develop an action plan to reduce ‘financed emissions’ related to all lending activities that impact the climate.<BR><BR>We know that Mrs. Nixon cares deeply about clean water, and so we’re appealing directly to her to help us push RBC to make a meaningful commitment to clean water, by ending its financing of the tar sands – rather than giving fistfuls of cash to Big Oil’s dirtiest project ever, while donating its spare change to clean water projects.<BR><BR>Mrs. Nixon, will you help us? (And Mr. Nixon: if you want to help us stop the tar sands too, there’s no need to wait for your wife to take the lead.)<BR>__________________________<BR>www.itsgettinghotinhere.org</FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></P>
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Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2009 18:05:51 -0800<BR>From: butterflybluelu@rogers.com<BR>To: all@gren.ca<BR>Subject: [All] Fw: GRCA News: Grant from RBC will help rural property owners protect water quality<BR><BR>
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<DIV>Hi folks</DIV>
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<DIV>Even though RBC is the main finance company of the Alberta Tar Sands, it's good to see efforts made to help water at this end of the world.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Lulu :0)</DIV>
<DIV><BR>--- On <B>Mon, 11/2/09, Dave Schultz <I><dschultz@grandriver.ca></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid"><BR>From: Dave Schultz <dschultz@grandriver.ca><BR>Subject: GRCA News: Grant from RBC will help rural property owners protect water quality<BR>To: <BR>Received: Monday, November 2, 2009, 9:39 AM<BR><BR>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><FONT size=5><I><B>Grand River Conservation Authority<BR></B></I><U><B>News Release</B></U></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=3><B>Monday, Nov. 2, 2009</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3><B>Release ON RECEIPT</B></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><FONT size=5><B>Grant from RBC will help rural property owners protect water quality</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">The Grand River Conservation Authority is expanding its programs for rural property owners, thanks to a $100,000 grant from the RBC Blue Water Project to the Grand River Conservation Foundation. </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">The RBC Leadership Grant will help the GRCA provide advice to rural landowners – both farm and non-farm – on how to protect water quality on their land. </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">“When it comes to rural water quality, one of our biggest challenges is meeting public demand,” said Tracey Ryan, GRCA’s Supervisor of Extension Services. “People want to protect their waterways – it’s simply a matter of having the resources to do so.”</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">“With two-year support from the RBC Blue Water Fund, the GRCA will now be able to reach all rural landowners with advice and provide financial support for them to protect their part of the Grand River watershed,” said Ryan.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">The money will be used to increase capacity in the GRCA’s Rural Water Quality and rural non-farm programs. It will be used to broaden outreach activities such as landowner contact and a series of five workshops for rural non-farm residents. It will allow the GRCA to extend the reach of its existing Rural Water Quality Program to parts of the watershed where it’s not currently in place, such as Dufferin and Haldimand counties. Farmers will be able to apply for grants to implement projects to protect water quality.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">Rural non-farm participants will be introduced to the Rural Landowner Stewardship Guide which will help them evaluate the effect their property and actions have on the environment. They’ll receive advice on the value of upgrading wells, improving septic systems and planting trees for windbreaks. Some landowners may be eligible to apply for grants to undertake these projects. </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">RBC has committed $50 million to its Blue Water Project to provide grants over 10 years to support initiatives that foster a culture of water stewardship. The program is designed to make measurable, meaningful differences to communities and the environment.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt">“RBC is proud to support watershed management, conservation and water treatment through our Blue Water program,” said Jane Black, RBC Regional Vice President, Greater Waterloo. “We want to make sure the Grand River watershed continues to provide ecosystem services, such as drinking water supply, a critical habitat for plants and animals and an area of natural beauty for many years to come.” </DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; TEXT-INDENT: 14pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><B>-30-</B></DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt"><B>About RBC</B></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt">RBC believes in building prosperity by contributing to the communities in which we live and work. We are now one of Canada’s largest corporate donors, and we support a broad range of community initiatives, through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2008<B>,</B> RBC contributed more than $99 million to community causes worldwide. As a founding member of Imagine Canada, RBC is committed to donating at least one per cent of our average annual net income before taxes. For more information, please visit <FONT color=#0000ff><U><A href="http://www.rbc.com/donations/" rel=nofollow>http://www.rbc.com/donations/</A></U></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt"><U><B>Further information:</B></U></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt">Dave Schultz, GRCA Manager of Communications <BR><B>Phone</B>: (519) 621-2763, Ext. 2273; <B>Cell</B>: (519) 658-3896 <BR><B>E-mail</B>: <A href="http://ca.mc883.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=dschultz@grandriver.ca" rel=nofollow>dschultz@grandriver.ca</A> <B>Website</B>: <A href="http://www.grandriver.ca/" rel=nofollow><FONT color=#0000ff><U>www.grandriver.ca</U></FONT></A></DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt">Greg Skinner, RBC, Manager of Communications<BR><B>Phone</B>: <FONT face="Arial, sans-serif" size=2>(416) 974-5904: </FONT><B>E-mail</B>: <A href="http://ca.mc883.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=greg.skinner@rbc.com" rel=nofollow><FONT color=#0000ff><U>greg.skinner@rbc.com</U></FONT></A><BR></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <br /><hr />Get a great deal on Windows 7 and see how it works the way you want. <a href='http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9691812' target='_new'>Check out the offers on Windows 7now.</a></body>
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