Environment

Whale of a Campaign

by Sheldon Rampton — August 3, 2001 - 12:00am

Iceland recently joined Japan and Norway in seeking to reverse the International Whaling Commission's ban on commercial whaling, prompting the British edition of PR Week to ask its experts, "How would you market whale meat to reluctant UK consumers?" Chris Lukehurst of the British Meat and Livestock Commission suggested "marketing it as a health food that is also environmentally friendly ... a traditional organic food" that is "free-range and not genetically modified."

Main Source: 
PR Week (UK), August 3, 2001

Cooptation or Cooperation? Chemical Industry Helps Fund National Research on Chemicals

by Laura Miller — July 27, 2001 - 12:00am

The American Chemistry Council, the trade association of the chemical industry, has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences "to improve testing chemicals for potential human developmental and reproductive effects," according to a July 26 NIEHS press release.

Main Source: 
Our Stolen Future, July 27, 2001

Hatchet Politics

by Sheldon Rampton — July 26, 2001 - 12:00am

The Boise Cascade Corp. is targeting the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the environmental group that has gotten major companies to stop buying wood from the remaining old-growth forests. Boise Cascade is working with two industry-supported front groups, the Frontiers of Freedom Institute and the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, trying to get the IRS to cancel RAN's tax-exempt status and to pressure its funders to cut off the group's money.

Main Source: 
Star-Telegram, July 26, 2001

Japanese Official Admits Using Foreign Aid to Buy Pro-Whaling Votes

by Sheldon Rampton — July 18, 2001 - 12:00am

The head of Japan's fisheries agency admitted that his country uses foreign aid to pressure other countries into voting against restrictions on its whaling activities. Masayuki Komatsu added that there is "nothing wrong" with killing whales, comparing them to "cockroaches" and saying, "There are too many." We reported on the PR firms that help greenwash Japanese whaling in the 1st Quarter 2001 issue of PR Watch.

Main Source: 
Associated Press, July 18, 2001

"Hey Jack, Clean Up The Hudson" Says O'Dwyer's Editor

by Laura Miller — July 18, 2001 - 12:00am

Kevin McCauley, editor for PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR, calls on General Electric CEO Jack Welch to dredge up the company's PCBs in the Hudson River. Welch has adamantly opposed GE cleaning up the Hudson and denied a relationship between exposure to PCBs and cancer. The company has had success in creating opposition to dredging by bankrolling PR and ad campaigns. However, McCauley says, GE could get a big image boost "if Welch switched course and said: 'GE wants to be the country's No. 1 environmental citizen. We will dredge the Hudson River.'"

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR, July 18, 2001

Toxic Chemical Review Process Faulted

by Sheldon Rampton — July 13, 2001 - 12:00am

Scientists and experts who advise the Environmental Protection Agency on a broad range of regulations governing toxic chemicals and air and water quality frequently have ties to the affected industries or other conflicts of interest, according to a new government study.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, July 13, 2001

Propaganda: Industry Spoof of Lorax

by Laura Miller — July 11, 2001 - 5:09pm

An timber-industry sponsored children's book has been modeled on Dr. Seuss's "Lorax." The book, titled "Truax," by Terri Birkett was funded by the Hardwood Forest Foundation and the National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association. Four hundred thousand copies of "Truax " have been distributed to elementary schools nationwide.

Main Source: 
http://www.forestcouncil.org/news/articles/truax1.htm

New UK Green Group: Just Another Front?

by Laura Miller — July 11, 2001 - 12:00am

A new UK environmental group called the Scientific Alliance has formed "in response to the growing concern that the debate on the environment has been distorted by extreme pressure groups," reports The Guardian.

Main Source: 
The Guardian, July 11, 2001

Timber Industry's SFI Certification "Greenwashing"

by Laura Miller — July 10, 2001 - 12:00am

Pacific Lumber Co. announced it had been blessed by the American Forest & Paper Assn's "Sustainable Forestry Initiative" (SFI). Conservationists questioned Pacific Lumber's claims of sustainability, saying it reveals SFI to be little more than greenwashing. "To call Pacific Lumber's ongoing liquidation of ancient forests 'sustainable' exposes the self-serving nature of this program," commented Paul Mason of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC). The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is the timber industry's program for certifying sustainably managed forests.

Main Source: 
Press Release, July 10, 2001

CEI Uses Stossel to Attack Environmental Education

by John Stauber — June 27, 2001 - 9:05am

The polluter-funded Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is using the upcoming Stossel report to escalate its attack on public funding of environmental education. CEI notes that "ABC News is airing a John Stossel special this Friday, June 29, exposing some of the liberal indoctrination children receive in the classroom under the guise of environmental education."

Main Source: 
http://www.cei.org/PRReader.asp?ID=1533
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