Hui shuns bank over petroleum pipeline

With about 30 demonstrators waving signs and chanting in front of First Hawaiian Bank’s downtown headquarters Thursday, the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i announced that more than $700,000 is being withdrawn from the state’s largest bank in an act of solidarity with those opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The environmental organization has been working for three weeks on a goal to have $1 million withdrawn from a bank, which is owned in large part by BNP Paribas, a French investment bank backing the oil pipeline construction.

Marti Townsend, director of the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, said Thursday her group wants to send a strong message that the people of Hawaii stand with the project’s foes at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

“We hope First Hawaiian Bank will stand with them, too,” she said. “It’s time for us to start a new phase, a new chapter in the way we do capitalism. We can’t engage in economic choices that destroy our planet anymore.”

First Hawaiian Bank offered this statement:

“We are respectful of the concerns being expressed. First Hawaiian Bank has no involvement with the Dakota Access Pipeline nor do we support it. We have not made any investment in this project. Our focus remains on our commitment to serving our customers and our community. First Hawaiian Bank’s core company values and investment in our community have remained consistent throughout our 158 years in Hawaii. While BNPP is a significant shareholder, First Hawaiian Bank is an entirely separate entity. As a publicly traded company First Hawaiian has many shareholders and as such, does not control the actions of its shareholders.”

In October the bank, with 57 branches in Hawaii, reported $18.89 billion in assets with record loans, deposits and assets.

First Hawaiian was a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas for 15 years until the Paris-based company this year sold off part of its stake to generate capital and satisfy regulatory requirements. BNP now owns 82.6 percent of First Hawaiian after raising $557.8 million in the public offering.

Townsend, pointing to the BNP Paribas name on the First Hawaiian building, said more than 20 residents and organizations have so far committed to withdrawing money.

While the Obama administration’s decision to not grant the final easement for the pipeline was a victory for the “water protectors” and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, the pipeline builders say they aren’t giving up, and neither are people in Hawaii, Townsend said.

Among the demonstrators Thursday was kumu hula Vicky Holt-Takamine of the PA‘I Foundation, who said she withdrew personal funds and was also closing an account for her nonprofit.

“I have a check in my bag for $100,000. I just did it today,” she said.

Holt-Takamine was emotional as she recalled her visit to Standing Rock in November.

“I saw the conditions under which our Native American brothers and sisters are living, and they are adamant about staying throughout the winter to protect their water resources, to protect their lands,” she said.

She said closing the accounts was “a small thing” but an important demonstration of her support. She encouraged others to join her in moving their funds to “a more socially responsible” bank.

“I should be able to decide how my money gets used, and I do not want my money to support the Dakota Access Pipeline,” she said. “We understand the shareholders of the bank can’t do anything about it, so we’re going to move our money. We will take that out of their hands, and they don’t have to worry about it.”

Jodi Malinoski, coordinator of the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i’s Oahu Group, said her organization closed its two First Hawaiian accounts Thursday and deposited the money into a credit union that has no shareholders involved in fossil fuel projects.

“We just feel safer investing in a local company that has our best interest in mind,” Malinoski said. “We think continuing to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure projects is ridiculous because Hawaii has already committed to being powered by 100 percent clean energy, and we want our banks and the industry to represent what we believe and feel.”