This is a call to action for East Coast #NoDAPL solidarity activists and Native community leaders to join peaceful and spirited protest confronting the Dec. 6 - 7, 2016 Wells Fargo Pipeline Symposium taking place at NYC's Waldorf Astoria.
This symposium schedule is as follows:
Tuesday Dec. 6th - 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday Dec. 7th - 7 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The main rally is from 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
However, we also strongly encourage people to come at the start of the conference ...
This is a call to action for East Coast #NoDAPL solidarity activists and Native community leaders to join peaceful and spirited protest confronting the Dec. 6 - 7, 2016 Wells Fargo Pipeline Symposium taking place at NYC's Waldorf Astoria.
This symposium schedule is as follows:
Tuesday Dec. 6th - 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday Dec. 7th - 7 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The main rally is from 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
However, we also strongly encourage people to come at the start of the conference on this day, 7 a.m.
There will be action taken on Wednesday as well, but times will be determined by a general consensus on Tuesday.
*Please read pinned post for more information and updates!*
We urge water protectors and solidarity activists to be present during the start of the symposium in order to make the strongest impact on those entering and leaving the building, including President/CEO of Wells Fargo Tim Sloan, President/COO of Energy Transfer Partners Matt Ramsey and his VP Brent Ratliff. These are the men responsible for the Dakota Access Pipeline and they are expected to be present. This is your chance to make your concerns heard! Let us remember Sophia Wilansky! May her tears and pain not be in vain!
Wells Fargo organizes an annual conference for oil and gas pipeline investors, called the "Wells Fargo Pipeline, MLP, and Utility Symposium." This year's gathering - the 15th annual - takes place at New York City's Waldorf Astoria on December 6th-7th. The keynote speaker "will address the growing challenges of building new pipeline infrastructure including rights of way, eminent domain, environmental impact and governmental approvals," according to the brochure. Wells Fargo is one of the top investors in Dakota Access Pipeline and has earned a reputation as "Big Oil's biggest banker" owing to its cozy relationship wtih the oil industry, including DAPL owner Energy Transfer Partners.
Wells Fargo is the US' most controversy-laden bank of the moment, owing to the revelation that it reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in extra profits by opening roughly two million bogus customer accounts from 2011 to '15. The fact that it is the Dakota Access Pipeline's second largest financial backer, with $467 million invested to date, is therefore an attention-grabber in itself. But Wells Fargo also acts as Energy Transfer Partners' so-called "administrative loan agent," the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings show, giving it a qualitatively greater role in fueling the pipeline than any other bank.
Wells Fargo performs all record-keeping associated with all of ETP's loans, handles the interest and principal payments made in connection with those loans, and monitors their ongoing administration. In other words, all bank financing ETP receives passes through Wells Fargo.
This relationship did not emerge in a vacuum. In 2014, Wells Fargo assumed the mantle of Wall Street's top oil and gas banker, having more aggressively ramped up its investments than any other following the 2008 economic crash. One of Wells Fargo's executive vice presidents, Mike Johnson, bragged about the San Francisco-based banking giant's top role in fueling these planet-cooking sectors at a 2014 investors conference, and industry analyst Thompson Reuter has also made note of it.