Rolling Stone USA - 04.2020

THE

DOOMSDAY

BANK

B

ANKERS LIKE NUMBERS. Numbers tell the story. No

emotion gets in the way. So let’s look at the

numbers: Over the past three years — that is,

in the years after the world came together in

Paris to try to slow climate change — JPMor-

gan Chase lent $196 billion to the fossil-fuel

industry.  Over the past three years, JPMor-

gan Chase lent more money to the fossil-fuel industry

than any bank on Earth — 29 percent more. And over

the past three years, JPMorgan Chase lent more money

to the most expansionary parts of the fossil-fuel indus-

try (new pipelines, Arctic drilling, deep-sea exploration)

than any other bank — 63 percent more. ¶ That’s not to

say that other banks don’t do plenty of damage: Citi,

Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are all in the hundred-

50 ROLLING STONE

Despite knowing the

danger for decades, Chase

lends more money to the

fossil-fuel industry than

any other bank — it must be

stopped before it’s too late

ILLUSTRATION BY

MIKE MCQUADE

BY BILL

MCKIBBEN

CLIMATE CRISIS