The Seattle City Council took one more step toward the divestment of $3 billion of city funds from Wells Fargo this week as a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline. In a unanimous vote (8-0) on February 1, the Finance Committee voted in favor of legislation introduced by Council members Kshama Sawant and Tim Burgess.
Anti-pipeline activists held a victory rally outside City Hall following the vote.
According to a public statement by Kshama Sawant:
If Seattle divests from Wells Fargo, it will greatly fuel the inspiring nationwide struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline and the oil lobby. I urge Councilmembers to support this legislation … as part of Seattle’s fightback against Trump and the billionaire class.
President Trump has signed two executive orders that would advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. The executive action established a deadline for the US government’s review of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline that is proposed to bring tar sands crude from Alberta to refineries in the US.
Although Trump’s actions do not give a complete green light for the projects, it is an indication that his administration supports the pipelines. It also appears that the US government will attempt to open up new lands for oil drilling.
Currently many environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and Rising Tide are opposed to President Trump’s policy towards fossil fuels and the construction of new pipelines, including the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
The Seattle City Council legislation is now being referred to the whole city council for a vote on February 6.
This is not the first time that the Seattle City Council has voted in favor of divesting from major corporate banks. During the Occupy Wall Street movement the City Council also considered divestment from Bank of America and Chase as a protest against publicly funded financial bailouts.
In an editorial…