Ecopledge Blog http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/ en 2006-02-28T16:29:43-05:00 Shell needs to shell out the cash http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2006_02.html#000133 Could Royal Dutch Shell finally be held accountable for some of its misdeeds? A Nigerian court has found Shell guilty of massive environmental degradation and has ordered the multinational to pay $1.5 billion in damages. Of course, whether the company actually pays up is another story- it won’t admit to this and other despicable acts, and we only have to look as far as another oil giant, ExxonMobil, to see that Big Oil seems to be exempt from paying court fees.

]]> Wilderness MIA 2006-02-28T16:29:43-05:00 Synthetics are not Organic! http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_10.html#000132 Perhaps if you are like me, you peruse the isles of your supermarket scanning the thousands and thousands of items for product labels that read organic. Consumers buy organics for a myriad of health, environmental and ethical reasons. Some consumers are concerned about the routine use of toxic municipal sewage sludge as a fertilizer on conventional farms; others worry about filthy slaughterhouses, diseased feedlot animals, E. coli, salmonella, and fecal contamination; while other consumers buy organic as a way to promote the livelihoods of small family farmers.

Whatever their reasons, 13 million of the 106 million US households actively seek and support the organic industry. Wouldn’t they be horrified to find out that their organic labeled products were in fact made with synthetic substances? ...

]]> Pure Water & Food BETH 2005-10-05T15:56:25-05:00 Drilling in the Arctic Refuge will not improve our security http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_10.html#000131 We all know that there’s been constant talk of security from both government and industry ever since September 11, 2001. Recently the security conversation has focused on Hurricane Katrina, the failure to deal with this natural disaster, and our oil dependency. Some say that this natural disaster has shown us that we need to decrease our dependency on foreign oil, and therefore drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. How this connection can be seriously established is beyond many of us, but it’s being touted as the only answer for our safety. One of the power-houses laying this message on pretty heavy is the single-issue lobby group Arctic Power. This is taken from their homepage:

]]> Wilderness MIA 2005-10-04T15:19:59-05:00 Is Bill Ford Seeing Green? http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_09.html#000130 Ford just announced an increased commitment to hybrid vehicles, with a target of producing 250,000 hybrids a year by 2010. I'm not sure whether to be encouraged or depressed by the announcement. Sure, it's a step in the right direction. It's a vote of confidence in hybrids by an American manufacturer, and it represents a ten-fold increase from the number of hybrids that Ford is building this year.

But does it really show that Ford understands the urgency of the situation we're facing? Here are some stats from a Wall Street Journal article about the announcement:


  • Number of hybrids Ford will produce in 2010: 250,000

  • Number of hybrids Toyota will produce this year: 250,000

  • Number of hybrids Toyota will produce per year "early in the next decade": 1,000,000

Hey, it's great that Ford is ambling in the right direction. It's certainly better than having them ambling in the wrong direction. But if they were serious about saving the environment and saving their own company, it's clear that they could be moving much more quickly.

]]> Clean Air & Energy ANDREW 2005-09-22T17:31:23-05:00 A Dark Day for the Arctic http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_03.html#000129 The Senate voted today to include revenues from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in its budget. The vote was 51-49.

This vote, though a major setback, does not end the fight. Each house of Congress will still need to vote at least twice more to finalize the budget and open the Refuge to drilling.

]]> Wilderness MICHAEL 2005-03-16T14:52:49-05:00 Toyota to build a US Plant http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_03.html#000128 According to The Detroit Free Press, Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest seller of gasoline-electric cars, will decide in June where in North America to build such vehicles.

Demand for fuel-saving hybrids could grow to as much as 10 percent of
total U.S. new vehicle sales by 2010, Jim Press, Toyota's U.S. managing
director, said last month. U.S. sales of Toyota's Prius more than
doubled this year through February to 12,644 from 6,140 a year earlier.
Honda Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co. also sell hybrids in the United
States.

]]> Clean Air & Energy BETH 2005-03-09T14:23:44-05:00 Big Oil Not Interested in Arctic Refuge http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_03.html#000127 A recent story in the New York Times states that the oil industry has not shown much interest in drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The article cited BP and ConocoPhillips' withdrawals from the pro-drilling group Arctic Power, each of which followed Ecopledge campaigns, as proof of this fact. Congressional debate over the Refuge's fate may be affected by this article, as one might reasonably wonder why we should be considering drilling if the oil companies themselves aren't interested.

This article demonstrates that Ecopledge's efforts to protect the Arctic are bearing fruit. However, no company has yet publicly committed to stay out of the Refuge. This is probably because of industry fears of upsetting the Bush Administration. Public support will be key in convincing these companies that they are better off protecting the Refuge than the White House.

]]> Wilderness MICHAEL 2005-03-03T13:16:42-05:00 Good Corporate Citizens May have Recruitment Advantage http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_03.html#000126 Two academic studies, one from Stanford Graduate School of Business and one from University of Olso, support the idea that companies that are socially responsible may be better at recruiting talented and motivated employees as a result.

This supports Ecopledge's belief that companies that protect the environment can succeed financially as well. It also suggests that companies should consider any potential recruitment advantage when evaluating corporate social responsibility programs.

Finally, these papers also suggest that Ecopledge's strategy of organizing students to use their leverage as potential employees to win environmental change from companies can be effective.

]]> Miscellaneous MICHAEL 2005-03-03T12:38:49-05:00 Whole Foods & GE Labeling http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_03.html#000125 Whole Foods has stated that, "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not issued mandatory labeling requirements for GE-ingredient or non-GE ingredient foods nor have they determined a standardized testing protocol for how to test for the presence of ingredients that have been genetically engineered. Accordingly, it would be extremely difficult, as well as costly for us, or any other retailer or manufacturer, to provide customers accurate and meaningful information about the GE status of products on the basis of speculation of future changes in legislation."

And yet, many other food manufacturers such as Simply Organic, Walnut Acres, Hains, Amy's Kitchen and Natures' Path already list the absence of genetically engineered ingredients on all of their products. Amy Kitchen has accepted the additional costs to labeling despite the fact Amy's Kitchen revenues are significantly smaller.

Furthermore, according to the Austin American Statesman, when sales per square foot at Whole Foods are nearly $800 it is hard to believe that they are not labeling based on the financial costs incurred.

]]> Miscellaneous BETH 2005-03-02T15:09:39-05:00 Renting Fuel Efficient Vehicles: What are the options? http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_03.html#000124 Friday's New York Times article highlights the growing trend in environmentally friendly rental cars and other forms of for-hire transportation.

Given current gas prices and growing popularity of hybrid vehicles it seems logical that rental car companies would add these fuel efficient vehicles to their fleet mix. However rental car companies state that they are not able to obtain these vehicles due to the shortage of cars available.

Bill Ford recently said in an open letter to New American Dream, "To be successful, sustainability has to be customer-driven."

What better way to drive customer demand than by signing onto Ecopledge's Hertz Campaign . Ecopledge is calling on the Hertz Corporation a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company to increase the fuel economy of its rental fleet to 40 mpg by 2012.

]]> Clean Air & Energy BETH 2005-03-01T15:03:07-05:00 SF adds hybrids to its taxi cab fleet http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_02.html#000123 Yesterday morning, February 22, 2005 the city of San Francisco unveiled 15 Ford Escape Hybrid vehicles to its taxi fleet. After twenty years of driving gas guzzling vehicles, Alan Gochberg said that his daily fuel bill for his 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift dropped from $25 to about $9, a cut of almost two-thirds.

Allan Fromberg, spokesperson for NYC's Taxi and Limousine Commission stated that, "We are very much looking into the possibility" of adding Escapes to the fleet.

For pictures of the event and to read the full version of this story click here.

]]> Clean Air & Energy BETH 2005-02-23T16:29:35-05:00 Exxon Mobil CEO Speaks Out (Again) to Oppose Action on Climate Change http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_02.html#000122 Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Lee Raymond remains in denial on the realities of climate change. Mr. Raymond told a European trade group recently that Europe needs a "reality check" because its targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol are not achievable.

Perhaps Mr. Raymond is the one in need of a reality check. Despite Exxon Mobil's misgivings, climate change is happening, greenhouse gases are the cause, and we need to drastically reduce our emissions to prevent a catastraphe from occurring.

]]> MICHAEL 2005-02-21T15:51:32-05:00 Ratifying the Bio-Security Law http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_02.html#000121 With its successful passage through Mexico's lower house tomorrow, February 15, 2005 the decision on whether to ratify the revised Bio-Security Law will be made. The Bio-Safety Law is a controversial as it will allow for the introduction of genetically modified corn into Mexico.

According to activist, Talli Nauman "The issues it raises are about protecting native grain species to assure world food supplies and protecting local growers from domination by a handful of patent-wielding transnational seed companies.

For more information on the associated risks of biotechnology and the effects cross-contamination is having on remote Mexican corn fields click here here.

]]> Pure Water & Food BETH 2005-02-14T16:45:22-05:00 Republicans take stand and prepare to fight against global warming http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_02.html#000120 The Kyoto Protocol will go into effect in less than two weeks. Although President Bush and his dedicated administration are carrying on as though there is nothing conspicuous about this treaty or global warming as a growing and very real worldwide environmental concern; some Republicans in the Senate are emerging as leaders in the fight against global warming. To learn more about who is standing up against Bush and his cronies, click here.

]]> Clean Air & Energy BETH 2005-02-09T13:02:12-05:00 Toyota takes the lead again! http://www.ecopledge.com/blog/archives/2005_02.html#000117 Toyota Motor Company recently unveiled its next generation hydrogen-powered fuel cell hybrid-electric bus. Fuel-cell cars emit only water and are touted by environmentalists as the ultimate environment-friendly vehicle. For more information see Kyodo News International.

]]> Clean Air & Energy BETH 2005-02-02T11:45:35-05:00