Environment

The Pro-Junk Mail Lobby: Fighting to Sustain the Unsustainable?

Junk MailJunk mail kills trees, clogs mailboxes, packs landfills, wastes natural resources, and everyone would be glad to be rid of it. Right?

Well, maybe not.

Whether out of environmental concern or sheer annoyance, legislated efforts to reduce junk mail are on the rise, but companies that have vested interests in its continuance have started organizing to save it--in a big way. Of course, they don't call it junk mail. Their preferred euphemisms are "advertising mail," "direct mail" or even "standard mail."

Indian Point on the Potomac: Entergy's New Safety Panel and PR Firm

Entergy's Indian Point nuclear power plantThere's no question that New York's Indian Point nuclear power plant could use some public relations help. But Entergy, Indian Point's owner, might have chosen their new PR firm a little more carefully.

Last year, the state of New York asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to deny the plant's license extension application, citing "a long and troubling history of problems." It was "the first time that a state had stepped forward to flatly oppose license renewals," according to the New York Times.

Then, in January, the NRC proposed a $650,000 fine against Indian Point, for having repeatedly missed deadlines to install a new emergency siren system. The fine is "10 times the normal size" of such sanctions, reported the Times.

To address such criticisms, Entergy has retained the Burson-Marsteller firm, funded the pro-nuclear "New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance" and brought Greenpeace activist-turned-PR consultant Patrick Moore to New York. Last month, Entergy made another effort to, in their own words, "provide public assurances about the operation and protection of New York's largest nuclear power facility." They announced the formation of an "Independent Safety Evaluation" panel to investigate Indian Point.

Glover Park Group Fights for (and Against) Climate Protection

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Former vice president Al Gore (through his Alliance for Climate Protection) will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history. ...

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Main Source: 
Washington Post, March 31, 2008
Topics: 
Activism
Advertising
Cause-Related Marketing
Front Groups
Climate Change
Environment
Lobbying
Think Tanks

Sierra Club Bleaches Dissent on Clorox Deal

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

bleachIn an unprecedented move by one of the Big Green environmental groups, the "Sierra Club's national board voted March 25 to remove the leaders of the Club's 35,000-member Florida chapter, and to suspend the Chapter for four years." What did the chapter do?

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Main Source: 
Rachel's Democracy & Health News, March 27, 2008
Topics: 
Activism
Cause-Related Marketing
Third Party Technique
Corporations
Environment
Health
Secrecy

BP Greenwashes Tar Sands Exploitation

Submitted by John Stauber on

The oil giant BP has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on PR, greenwashing its image to be perceived as better than Exxon, Shell and others. But "a recent change in corporate policy threatens that green-friendly image," reports Michael Moreci.

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Main Source: 
In These Times, March 19, 2008
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Climate Change
Corporations
Public Relations

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