effing ethics

I've been thinking of transferring my current accounts to more ethical banks, partly for the ethics and partly because the recent financial fiasco has shown how unsafe banks can be, especially if they're of the hard-nose variety. That's the impression anyway. Naturally, I thought of the Co-operative Bank, part of the Co-op group. They seem ethical. According to their website they have an ethical policy which states;

''it won’t invest in businesses whose core activity contributes to the unsustainable harvest of natural resources...''

and an ethical engagement policy which states;

''The Co-operative Insurance and The Co-operative Investments states that they will encourage the businesses in which they invest to end the exploitation of nature – which results in the loss of plants and animals and their surroundings – and consider more sustainable natural products and services.''

So I am confused by this story in the local paper saying the Co-op Group is seeking permission to extract five million tonnes of sand and gravel from beneath a plot of countryside they own. Is this the same Co-op or some other Co-op? It makes me wonder. At least with my current bank there's no doubt what they are.