Merrill Lynch gets lumps of coal

IRVINE, Calif. — Environmentalists last week gave Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. a few lumps of coal.
The Rainforest Action Network of San Francisco and the Washington- based Energy Action Coalition mounted a mock “Billionaires for Coal” demonstration at Merrill’s New York headquarters, in a sarcastic protest of the firm’s role in financing coal-fired power plants.
Well-dressed “billionaires” delivered bags of coal and held signs supporting Merrill’s efforts in financing the $10 billion needed to construct 11 coal-fired plants in Texas by TXU Corp., a Dallas-based utility company.
Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley, both of New York, also are involved in the financing.
The environmental groups claimed that the plants’ carbon emissions would be equivalent to putting 14 million new cars on the road.
“If TXU’s full expansion plan were to be completed, TXU would become the largest corporate greenhouse gas polluter in the United States,” the groups said in a statement.
“The people of Texas … have voiced another view” on how to meet an energy shortfall, Merrill spokesman Mark Herr said in a statement. “We believe the matter needs to be resolved in Texas, not on Wall Street.”
“Resistance [to the projects] continues to grow in Texas,” said Brianna Cayo Cotter, a spokeswoman for the Rainforest Action Network.