From: johnsoncountygreens@googlegroups.com
<johnsoncountygreens@googlegroups.com>
on behalf of Matthew Peirce <matthewpeirce@icloud.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 9:12:20 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: Please Divest now from all DAPL banks

Dear Councilors,

I am a member of the Johnson County Green Party and an Iowa City resident. Our party opposes and I personally oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline that runs through 18 Iowa Counties on the path from the Bakken fracked oil fields of North Dakota to Patoka Illinois, threatening Iowa farm land, wildlife habitat, recreation areas and clean drinking water for the state residents and millions of other people along the pipeline route.

Cutting as this pipeline does directly diagonally through our state, it crosses all NINE watersheds in Iowa, two of the largest rivers in the world (the Missouri twice), multiple state parks, and thousands of acres of incredible Iowa farmland,

Wells Fargo is committing $467 million to the companies hoping to profit from the pipeline. US Bank has invested $275 million. We request that you move all funds from Wells Fargo and US Bank to local banking institutions and cease doing business with Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank.

Reasons for leaving Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank for local banks:

  1. $3.75 of the $3.8 billion it costs to build the pipeline is on credit. Moving our money from the financial institutions funding the pipeline can make the difference because it will squeeze the institutions and they will be forced to either loose profits or continue to fulfill their “contractual obligations.”

    (So-called contractual obligations were of no concern to the current POTUS who routinely filed bankruptcy to avoid paying creditors and stiffing construction companies. Contracts only are valid until one party decides that they are no longer worth the commitment; at that point they CAN be rescinded and renegotiated if desired. There is nothing done between people that cannot also be undone between those same people. Nothing.)

  2. The local financial institution is more likely to make local loans, benefitting small businesses and individuals in the area. We MUST keep our dollars local! That is how we built and continue to build a resilient and vibrant community; multiple sectors working together in mutually beneficial relationships creates social and financial redundancies that are of immeasurable value when (not if) calamity strikes.

  3. Wells Fargo has been outlawed in some communities for its fraudulent tactics of creating multiple additional accounts for its customers, without the knowledge or permission of the customers.

Sincerely,

Matthew Peirce
318 Finkbine Lane #7, 52246