Environment

The Green Side Of The Pentagon

by Laura Miller — March 6, 2003 - 12:00am

In an effort to "preserve Iraq's oil for the Iraqi people," the Pentagon plans to prevent the destruction of Iraq's oil fields by "securing" them as quickly as possible. "In light of past acts of eco-terrorism by the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Department of Defense has developed plans to extinguish oil well fires and to assess damage to oil facilities that might occur in Iraq in the event of hostilities," a DoD release states.
Reports exist, however, that U.S.

Main Source: 
Department of Defense, March 6, 2003

Luntz Memo Helps To Greenwash Republicans

by John Stauber — March 2, 2003 - 12:00am

"Over the last six months, the
Republican Party has subtly refocused its message on the
environment, an issue that a party strategist Frank Luntz called 'the
single biggest vulnerability for the Republicans and
especially for George Bush' in a memorandum encouraging the
new approach.

Main Source: 
New York Times, March 2, 2003

PR Firm Protects Chemical Industry From Press Release

by Laura Miller — February 21, 2003 - 5:29pm

Within an hour of posting a press release headlined "Children, Pregnant Women Need Immediate Protection From DEHP, Says Sweeping New European Union Proposal" on its website, the public interest group Health Care Without Harm
received a call from PR Goliath Fleishman-Hillard asking them to change the release.

The Defence Of The Indefensible

by Laura Miller — February 11, 2003 - 6:45pm

"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. ... Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness, " George Orwell wrote fifty-five years ago in his essay "Politics and the English Language." In this month's Ecologist, Paul Kingsnorth points out the relevance of Orwell's words today.

Main Source: 
The Ecologist, February 2003

Anti-Environmentalist Lomborg a 'Junk Scientist'

by John Stauber — January 8, 2003 - 11:56am

As we detail in our book Trust Us, We're Experts , 'junk science' is a PR pejorative used by corporations to smear environmentalists and public interest scientists.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, New York Times

Working for the Pipeline

by Sheldon Rampton — December 31, 2002 - 12:00am

Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Assocs., a PR firm that specializes in crisis management, is helping energy companies fend off environmentalist and human rights groups that oppose a planned 400-mile pipeline in Peru that will pass through indigenous homelands in the Amazon rainforest. CLSA's other clients have included the Arthur Andersen accounting firm during the Enron scandal.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, December 31, 2002

News Director Resigns Amid Underwriting Questions

by Laura Miller — December 10, 2002 - 12:00am

The news director of Philadelphia's top public radio station, WHYY-91FM, resigned amid ethical questions surrounding news underwriting. "WHYY's president and CEO, would not say whether [former news director Bill] Fantini's resignation was connected to a story in Tuesday's Daily News that raised questions about a series of stories that were aired earlier this year. The series of environmental news reports was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which in turn is indirectly paid for by taxpayers," the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

Main Source: 
Philadelphia Business Journal, December 10, 2002

Agency Underwriting Slants News Coverage

by Laura Miller — December 10, 2002 - 12:00am

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection funneled money through a non-profit organization in order to underwrite environmental reporting on Philadelphia's leading public-radio station, WHYY, reports the Philadelphia Daily News.
The radio stories were supposed to take "a solution-oriented approach" according to an agreement between WHYY's news director and GreenWorks, which received $466,000 from the state agency via a Washington, D.C., public relations firm.

Main Source: 
Philadelphia Daily News, December 10, 2002

BP Oil's $200 Million Greenwashing Campaign

by John Stauber — December 8, 2002 - 12:00am

The New York Times examines BP/Amoco, the world's second largest oil company, and its $200 million PR and advertising campaign to greenwash its image. It is an "enormous corporate rebranding exercise, shortening its name from British Petroleum to BP, coining the slogan "Beyond Petroleum" and redesigning its corporate insignia. ... in came a green, yellow and white sunburst that seemed to suggest a warm and fuzzy feeling about the earth. ... But ...

Main Source: 
New York Times, December 8, 2002

The Fake Parade

by Laura Miller — December 3, 2002 - 12:00am

Outside the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in August in Johannesburg, there were poor street vendors and farmers holding signs and wearing t-shirts reading: "Save the Planet from Sustainable Development", "Say No To Eco-Imperialism", "Greens: Stop Hurting the Poor" and "Biotechnology for Africa." The problem, according to environmental reporter and activist Jonathan Matthews is that the anti-environmentalist demonstration was organized by the corporations that environmentalist wanted to be held accountable.

Main Source: 
The Freezerbox, December 3, 2002
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