Environment

Dirty Is Clean, Gray Is Green - Vote for Me!

by Diane Farsetta — March 23, 2004 - 12:00am

"Republicans can't stress enough that extremists are screaming 'Doomsday!'" reads a leaked memo from the U.S. House of Representatives' Republican Conference communications office to GOP members. The memo isn't referring to the Middle East -- it's offering advice on how to dismiss environmental issues raised by Democratic challengers.

Main Source: 
Gannett News Service, March 23, 2004

Can't See the Forest for the Forest Fuels

by Diane Farsetta — March 10, 2004 - 12:00am

In an "unusual, if not unprecedented" move, the U.S. Forest Service paid the San Francisco-based PR firm OneWorld Communications $90,000 to promote its controversial Sierra Nevada forest management plan. In a leaked memo, OneWorld suggested the slogan "Forests With A Future" to promote the plan, which will triple commercial logging and allow larger trees to be cut.

Main Source: 
San Francisco Chronicle, March 10, 2004

It's Greener on the Swing Side

by Diane Farsetta — January 30, 2004 - 12:00am

GOP pollster Frank Luntz warned in a memo to party leaders: "The environment is probably the single issue on which Republicans in general - and President Bush in particular - are most vulnerable." The administration's recent funding boosts for its Healthy Forests Restoration Act, Pacific salmon recovery programs, the Klamath River Basin (previously targeted by the anti-environmental

Main Source: 
Grist Magazine, January 30, 2004

Bush Administration Protects Chemical Industy

by Laura Miller — January 26, 2004 - 12:00am

"Last year the Bush Administration encouraged American chemical companies to lobby against European efforts to strengthen the regulation of thousands of chemicals contained in household, industrial and personal products," BushGreenWash.org writes. "When the chemical industry was slow to respond, Administration officials took it upon themselves to launch 'an unusually aggressive campaign' to pressure the European Union into watering down its comprehensive reform efforts. Documents uncovered by the Environmental Health Fund, using the Freedom of Information Act, showed the U.S.

Main Source: 
BushGreenWash.org, January 26, 2004

Chemical Industry Wages War on Environment & Health

by John Stauber — November 20, 2003 - 12:00am

A news release from the Environmental Working Group reveals that "the chemical industry plans to conduct a covert campaign attacking the growing movement in California for more chemical safety testing, with tactics including the creation of phony front groups and spying on activists, according to an internal American Chemistry Council (ACC) memo. ...

Main Source: 
Environmental Working Group, November 20, 2003

Sheep's Clothing

by Sheldon Rampton — November 3, 2003 - 12:00am

A group calling itself Partnership for the West (PFTW) was formally unveiled in late October and aims to influence environmental legislation in Washington. "The group plans to work on 'restoring a common sense balance to economic growth and conservation in the West,'" notes Bill Berkowitz, adding that this "sounds nice, until you see who's behind it. Claiming to be a grassroots lobby group, PFTW actually represents a kinder, gentler and more politically savvy brand of anti-environmentalism. ...

Main Source: 
TomPaine.com, November 3, 2003

Chemical Industry PR to Counter Health Activists

by John Stauber — October 30, 2003 - 12:00am

Monique Harden and Nathalie Walker, two public interest lawyers, report that they attended "the recent conference of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), called 'Communicating in a Volatile World.' ACC is the trade association for the 180 largest manufacturers of chemicals in the U.S. Until recently, ACC was known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association. The ACC conference was a real eye-opener. It revealed the ACC's genuine fears about the accomplishments of environmental health activists.

Main Source: 
Rachel's Environment & Health News, October 30, 2003

This is Your Brain on Public Relations

by Sheldon Rampton — October 28, 2003 - 12:00am

The Environmental Working Group has obtained and analyzed documents from a briefing book assembled by Frank Luntz, a top public opinion researcher for corporate lobbyists. The briefing book offers a PR playbook on how to frame the current wholesale rollback of environmental and public health protections while avoiding a stinging public backlash.

Main Source: 
Alternet, October 28, 2003

BP & B-M in the UK: Greenwashers Under Fire

by John Stauber — October 22, 2003 - 11:00pm

In Britain "Burson-Marsteller, the public relations agency used by the oil, GM, tobacco and chemical industries, is to represent the government's pollution watchdog, in a move that environmentalists yesterday described as 'barmy'." B-M's clients have included biotech behemoth Monsanto, and B-M's spying on food activists in the US in 1990 inspired the founding of PR Watch.

Main Source: 
Guardian, October 23, 2003

Scientist Resigns Over EPA's 'Wetlands Pollute' Study

by John Stauber — October 21, 2003 - 11:00pm

"A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency biologist has resigned in protest of his agency's acceptance of a developer-financed study concluding that wetlands discharge more pollutants than they absorb, according to a statement released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). EPA's approval of the study gives developers credit for improving water quality by replacing natural wetlands with golf courses and other developments. ...

Main Source: 
PEER News Release, October 22, 2003
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