Hundreds of people marched in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday for a rally outside the annual shareholders’ meeting of the financial giant Bank of America. Demonstrators from a number of groups gathered to protest Bank of America’s support for the coal industry, as well as its record on foreclosures. Todd Zimmer of the Rainforest Action Network said Bank of America’s funding of the coal industry has harmed cities like Charlotte.

Todd Zimmer: “I’m here because the price that we pay for Bank of America’s profit from coal funding is too high. So, in this community, one in four Charlotte kids will develop respiratory disease or asthma as a result of Bank of America’s coal funding. And not only that, but Bank of America’s funding for coal is putting the entire future of our planet at risk, because it drives runaway climate change. We should not have to bear these burdens and face these perils so that Bank of America can make a profit.”