GE Plans European Greenwashing Blitz

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General Electric's power industry division, GE Energy, is set to launch a greenwashing blitz in five European countries, including the United Kingdom. The centerpiece of the campaign will, according to PR Week, be an "aggressive green strategy" including the promotion of new GE technologies "including its Arklow Bank wind turbine park off the Irish coast." The campaign will be run by the Paris-based Hopscotch and its Irish subsidiary, Hopscotch Europe in One. Patrick Frison-Roche, the Managing Director of Hopscotch Europe in One, stated that "the company is still perceived as a large US corporation, so what we are doing here is ensuring stakeholders, influencers and other audiences are clear about its importance in Europe." In May 2005 GE launched its Ecomagination campaign, under which it is seeking to portray itself as an environmental leader. In the UK, GE Energy has been lobbying the UK government for an expansion of the nuclear power industry.