Environment

Toxic PR

by Bob Burton — June 8, 2009 - 12:42am

The Denver public relations firm MGA Communications boasts that it has won a Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America, for its work organizing a special event at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal for Shell Oil. Chemical weapons had been manufactured at the site for for the U.S.

Main Source: 
MGA Communications media release, June 5, 2009

Reputation Cleaning, After a Coal Disaster

by Diane Farsetta — May 26, 2009 - 4:54pm

Following a December 2008 massive coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) Kingston coal-fired power station in Roane County, Tennessee, local officials want a three-year, $1.9 million public relations campaign.

Main Source: 
Knoxville News Sentinel (Tennessee), May 23, 2009

The Best Media Chevron Can Buy

by Diane Farsetta — May 13, 2009 - 2:47pm

When Chevron "learned that '60 Minutes' was preparing a potentially damaging report," it "hired a former journalist" to tell its side of the story. For five months, former CNN reporter Gene Randall worked for the oil company.

Main Source: 
New York Times, May 10, 2009

From Cell to Sell: Police Recruit Activists as Spies

by Diane Farsetta — May 5, 2009 - 2:36pm

In Scotland, police have been offering environmentalists money in return for information about activist groups. "They said 'if you help us, we will help you,'" one anti-nuclear activist stated, referring to military police officers. The Guardian reports that "a network of hundreds of informants ...

Main Source: 
The Guardian (UK), April 27, 2009

Toxic Sludge - Better Than Ever!

by John Stauber — May 3, 2009 - 11:01am

For decades, government agencies and polluters have cynically and dangerously used the magic of PR to reclassify toxic sludge as "beneficial fertilizer," and thus haul it to rural farmlands where it is spread on fields out of sight, out of mind.

Main Source: 
Kansas City Star, May 2, 2009

Industry Says Green Is Bad for the Environment

by Diane Farsetta — April 28, 2009 - 10:02am

We must destroy the environment in order to save it, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's new campaign against government oversight and what it calls "green tape." "We cannot mandate excessive reductions in greenhouse gases, fuel our future and apply green technologies if we don't address the green tape, excessive permitting requirements, and activist opposition," complained Chamber vice-president for environment, technology and regulator affairs William Kovacs.

Main Source: 
Platts Inside Energy, April 16, 2009

Bottled Water Thirsty for Good Media

by Diane Farsetta — April 20, 2009 - 1:44pm

A front group for the UK bottled water industry, "which is perceived to be expensive and environmentally unsound," signed a "six-figure" contract with the public relations firm Munro & Forster.

Main Source: 
PR Week (UK), April 15, 2009

Free Ride for Greenwashers

by Bob Burton — April 8, 2009 - 5:32am

Speaking at a conference on greenwashing, the campaign director at Corporate Ethics International, Kenny Bruno, criticized the Sierra Club for its deal with the chemical company, Clorox.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 6, 2009

CoalSwarm a Nerve Center for the Green Energy Movement

by John Stauber — April 5, 2009 - 11:57am

The San Francisco Chronicle's website profiled "Ted Nace, director of the CoalSwarm website and an important part of the anti-coal movement that has been in the news in recent weeks." CoalSwarm is a "nerve center," a partnership with the Center for Media and Democracy within the

Main Source: 
San Francisco Chronicle blog "The Thin Green Line," March 13, 2009

Courage, Bayer CropScience Style

by Bob Burton — April 1, 2009 - 4:52am

Bayer CropScience has invoked the specter of terrorism in a bid to limit what information the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board can release at a public hearing into a chemical plant explosion in West Virginia that killed two employees. Bayer is claiming that "because it has a dock for barge shipments on the adjacent Kanawha River, its entire 400-acre site qualifies under the 2002 federal Maritime Transportation Security Act," reports Sean D.

Main Source: 
New York Times, March 28, 2009
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