"Greens Get Eaten" as Corporations Buy Their Critics

Burson-Marsteller's hiring of Lord Melchett is the focus of professor George Monbiot's weekly column in The Guardian: "Because regulation works, companies will do whatever they can to prevent it. They will threaten governments with disinvestment, and the loss of thousands of jobs. They will use media campaigns to recruit public opinion to their cause. But one of their simplest and most successful strategies is to buy their critics. By this means, they not only divide their opponents and acquire inside information about how they operate; but they also benefit from what public relations companies call 'image transfer': absorbing other people's credibility. Over the past 20 years, the majority of Britain's most prominent greens have been hired by companies whose practices they once contested. Jonathon Porritt, David Bellamy, Sara Parkin, Tom Burke, Des Wilson and scores of others are taking money from some of the world's most destructive corporations, while boosting the companies' green credentials. ... Burson-Marsteller's core business is defending companies which destroy the environment and threaten human rights..."