July 14th, 2004: The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) held a sidewalk "cook-in" at Wells Fargo Corporate Headquarters yesterday to launch BBQ the Banks, a campaign to bring attention to the banks that it calls "the liquidators," America’s most environmentally-destructive banks. While Wells Fargo hosted a lunchtime reception to commemorate the first day of business (July 13, 1852) inside what is now the company’s museum, RAN's eco-chefs were serving up "tofu and tough questions" on the sidewalk.

RAN has pointed out that Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and John Hancock are on the list of banks that have yet to follow the footsteps of industry leaders Citigroup and Bank of America, who earlier this year announced sweeping environmental standards as a result of pressure brought by RAN's Global Finance Campaign. Wells Fargo is the bank of choice for the U.S. oil industry. It finances seven of the top ten oilfield service firms and four of the top eight offshore drillers. It is also financing the destruction of North America’s last remaining old-growth forests, including the Tongass region of Alaska. According to Global Finance Campaign Director Ilyse Hogue, “Rather than adopting strong environmental policies that redirect investment away from climate change and forest destruction, Wells Fargo continues to drag its feet and avoid public scrutiny while pouring billions of dollars into companies and projects that are destroying the Earth's endangered ecosystems, fueling climate chaos, and displacing indigenous peoples.” More information on Wells Fargo’s destructive lending can be found at BBQtheBanks.com.

RAN itself has come under fire recently for declaring "victory" after its agreement with Citigroup allowed the mega-corporation to voluntarily monitor its fossil fuel investments, with no accountability to environmental or indigenous advocates; previous RAN campaigns against Mitsubishi and Home Depot reached similar "self-regulating" conclusions. Not to be outdone, anti-environment industry groups have labeled RAN a "terrorist organization."