WORCESTER, Mass. - Local climate activists held a protest outside the new Chase Bank branch on Gold Star Boulevard in Worcester Monday morning.

Members of 350 Central Mass, an all-volunteer climate-action organization, called for a boycott of all Chase Bank operations. The group said JP Morgan, which owns the bank, was the largest financier of the fossil fuel industry in 2021. Chase Bank is one of the largest banks in the world.

The activists want Chase to end its expansion in Massachusetts, saying they support local banks and credit unions who do not finance fossil fuel development projects.

"Chase's corporate policies completely contradict everything that Worcester's trying to do with its climate emergency, with its greening policies," Pat Benjamin, one of the protesters, said. "And until this corporation changes its policies, we want people to know that it has no place in Worcester."

The group said bills recently passed at the state and federal levels take serious steps towards lessening the impacts of climate change by shifting away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

In a statement to Spectrum News 1, a spokesperson for Chase said “We’re helping the transition to renewable energy by financing a wide range of projects, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable transportation.”