Wal-Mart's Fish Tales

"Two years ago, Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott Jr. outlined ambitious goals to turn the world's largest retailer into a more environmentally friendly company," reports the Washington Post. "Wal-Mart yesterday released its first report on its progress in meeting those goals, and showed mixed results." Among Wal-Mart's supposedly "significant gains" was "selling 22 seafood products that have been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council" (MSC). But, as the Center for Media and Democracy's Bob Burton has written, the MSC's environmental record is questionable. One independent review, "commissioned by three U.S. foundations, concluded that MSC's claim to certify 'sustainable' fisheries 'in most cases is not justified,' and fisheries 'that are not in compliance with the law can be, and have been, certified,'" states an excerpt from Burton's new book, "Inside Spin."