Corporate Responsibility
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2 Wall Street brokers scam $1 Billion dollars from clients!
Federal regulators are accusing two Wall Street brokers of defrauding their customers by making more than $1 billion in unauthorized purchases of securities tied to subprime mortgages.
The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges in a civil lawsuit that two Credit Suisse Securities brokers led corporate customers to believe that auction-rate securities being purchased in their accounts were backed by federally-guaranteed student loans and were safe like cash.
The SEC says the securities were backed by subprime mortgages, collateralized debt obligations and other high-risk investments. The agency is seeking unspecified restitution and fines.
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Corporate responisibility? It is time to reign in these people and restore sufficient oversight and regulation that has been significantly underminded under the Bush administration. Federal regulators are accusing two Wall Street brokers of defrauding their customers by making more than $1 billion in unauthorized p... more -
Clinton to speak in Vancouver
Bill Clinton will be the keynote speaker at the Business Council of British Columbia's one-day conference
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Shell rebuked for 'greenwash' over ad for polluting tar sands project
The Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell misled the public about the green credentials of a vastly polluting oil project in Canada, in an attempt to assure consumers of its good environmental record, a media watchdog will rule today.
In an embarrassing rejection of Shell's "greenwash", the Advertising Standards Authority said the company should not have used the word "sustainable" for its controversial tar sands project and a second scheme to build North America's biggest oil refinery. Both projects would lead to the emission of more greenhouse gases, the ASA said, ruling the advert had breached rules on substantiation, truthfulness and environmental claims.
Carried by the Financial Times on 1 February to accompany Shell's financial results, the company claimed: "We invest today's profits in tomorrow's solutions."
The advert continued: "A growing world needs more energy, but at the same time we need to find new ways of managing carbon emissions to limit climate change. Continued investment in technology is one of the key ways we are able to address this challenge, and continue to secure a profitable and sustainable future."
Shell explained it was harnessing its technical expertise "to unlock the potential of the vast Canadian oil sands deposits".
The WWF (formerly the Worldwide Fund for Nature) complained that extracting low-grade bitumen from sand was highly inefficient and destroyed huge tracts of virgin forest. In its defence, Shell maintained that new technology was reducing pollution from the Athabasca Oil Sands Project in Alberta in which it owns a 60 per cent stake.
Shell quoted a critical WWF report as rating its Muskeg River Mine one of the least damaging coal-tar sands projects because it sought to limit emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and organic compounds.
Making its ruling, the ASA quoted Canada's independent National Energy Board that oil sand developments had considerable social and economic impacts on water conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, land disturbance and waste management.
David Norman, the WWF's director of campaigns, said: "The ASA's decision to uphold WWF's complaint sends a strong signal to business and industry that greenwash is unacceptable." The Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell misled the public about the green credentials of a vastly polluting oil project in Canada, in an at... more -
Alcohol to go - is it targetting teens?
"The makers call it a "party in a pouch."
Critics say it's more like an alcoholic candy bar.
ShotPak is a line of alcoholic beverages that come in shot-sized, laminated-foil plastic pouches that are reminiscent of the drinks children pack in school lunches.
Purple Hooter is one of the drinks, which sell for 99 cents to $1.50 in liquor stores and for more in some nightclubs. There are also a Kamikaze, Lemon Drop, Sour Apple and a higher alcohol line of pocket-sized drinks called STR8UP of vodka, whiskey, tequila and rum -- all ironically made at a distillery in Temperance, Mich., and sold throughout Southern California. The company is legally headquartered in Irvine but is run mostly from Sarasota, Fla., where its parent company is located.
ShotPak refers to its drink as "the shot . . . without the glass!" The company's critics call it a blatant play to entice underage drinkers and to get alcohol into schools and other public venues where it wouldn't ordinarily be drunk.
"Images of these packs stuffed in jeans pockets can give kids the wrong idea. It turns this into an alcoholic candy bar," said George Hacker, a policy advocate with the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.
Until recently, the company's home page on the Internet showed a photo of just the middle of an attractive young woman. There was no head and not much of her legs. But there was a tight, bare belly clad in low slung bluejeans with a Purple Hooter pouch wedged into her front pocket.
In April, the company's main website was found in violation of advertising standards for alcoholic beverages set by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a self-regulating industry trade group.
ShotPak also had a MySpace page that talked about how "these shots are perfect to take with you tailgating, at concerts, to sporting events, on vacations, on a plane or on your next camping or boat trip."
Its list of MySpace friends include celebutante Kim Kardashian and a nearly naked woman who calls herself Jessica Rabbit. The page also contained other sexually suggestive imagery.
ShotPak made changes on both websites to comply with the standards set by the industry trade group after The Times called the Distilled Spirits Council asking about the images. "We are tidying up what might be considered controversial. We are trying to turn this into a positive product," said R. Charles Murray, chief executive of Beverage Pouch Group, which owns the ShotPak brand.
Still, some experts said they believed the convenient format of the ShotPak could encourage abuse.
"Combining vodka with raspberry drinks . . . and calling it a party in a pouch. Who are they appealing to? This isn't the kind of thing adults drink," said Dr. Michael Brody of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Adults of 25 to 40 years old are the prime targets, Murray said.
Murray said the company would sell about $500,000 of the drinks this year and was marketing a convenient drink "for a social setting" such as tailgate parties at sporting events, beaches or while boating -- situations where people don't want to cart glass around."
What do you think? Would you drink them? "The makers call it a "party in a pouch." Critics say it's more like an alcoholic candy bar. ... more -
Decades later, toxic sludge torments Bhopal
Hundreds of tons of waste still languish inside a tin-roofed warehouse in a corner of the old grounds of the Union Carbide pesticide factory here, nearly a quarter-century after a poison gas leak killed thousands and turned this ancient city into a notorious symbol of industrial disaster.
The toxic remains have yet to be carted away. No one has examined to what extent, over more than two decades, they have seeped into the soil and water, except in desultory checks by a state environmental agency, which turned up pesticide residues in the neighborhood wells far exceeding permissible levels.
Nor has anyone bothered to address the concerns of those who have drunk that water and tended kitchen gardens on this soil and who now present a wide range of ailments, including cleft palates and mental retardation, among their children as evidence of a second generation of Bhopal victims, though it is impossible to say with any certainty what is the source of the afflictions.
Why it has taken so long to deal with the disaster is an epic tale of the ineffectiveness and seeming apathy of India’s bureaucracy and of the government’s failure to make the factory owners do anything about the mess they left. But the question of who will pay for the cleanup of the 11-acre site has assumed new urgency in a country that today is increasingly keen to attract foreign investment.
It was here that on Dec. 3, 1984, a tank inside the factory released 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas, killing those who inhaled it while they slept. At the time, it was called the world’s worst industrial accident. At least 3,000 people were killed immediately. Thousands more may have died later from the aftereffects, though the exact death toll remains unclear.
More than 500,000 people were declared to be affected by the gas and awarded compensation, an average of $550. Some victims say they have yet to receive any money. Efforts to extradite Warren M. Anderson, the chief executive of Union Carbide at the time, from the United States continue, though apparently with little energy behind them.
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Another example of corporate immorality. Hundreds of tons of waste still languish inside a tin-roofed warehouse in a corner of the old grounds of the Union Carbide pesticide f... more -
Coca Cola settles lawsuit for $137.5 million
The Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage maker, has agreed to pay $137.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit that claimed company officials misrepresented or omitted information in public statements, causing the company's stock price to be inflated.
The Atlanta-based company did not admit any wrongdoing in settling the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, according to the agreement dated June 26 and entered July 3.
The court has preliminarily approved the settlement and scheduled a settlement fairness hearing for Oct. 20.
The lead plaintiffs in the suit were the Carpenters Health & Welfare Fund of Philadelphia & Vicinity and Local 144 Nursing Home Pension Fund, now called 1199 SEIU Greater New York Pension Fund.
The class represented by the plaintiffs included all persons who bought Coca-Cola stock between Oct. 21, 1999 and March 6, 2000.
The complaint by the institutional investors alleged that certain material facts concerning Coca-Cola and the condition of its business and financial results were misrepresented and omitted from various public statements purportedly made by the defendants, causing the price of Coke stock to be inflated artificially.
Over the last several years, there had been rounds of mediation and settlement discussions, court records show.
The agreement says that Coca-Cola and the other defendants, who include several former top executives of the company, continue to deny all substantive allegations of wrongdoing. The defendants believe they would ultimately prevail, but have considered the risk and expense of going forward and, therefore, decided to settle, court records show.
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I do believe Coca Cola is lying. See http://www.killercoke.org for more. Good to see them paying for a change. Coca Cola is also a sponsor of the Bejing Olympics. Boycott Coca Cola for involvement in crimes against humanity. The Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage maker, has agreed to pay $137.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit that clai... more -
Bottled water industry faces growing opposition
Last week’s decision by a York County water board to delay a vote on whether to sell municipal water to Nestle Corp., the owner of Poland Spring, did not happen in a vacuum.
* Last month in McCloud, Calif., after encountering opposition to what would have been the largest water bottling plant in the country, Nestle announced plans to significantly reduce the plant’s size.
* Earlier this month in Enumclaw, Wash., the city council rejected a proposal to allow Nestle to build another such plant.
* And last Monday, the U.S. Conference of Mayors voted to phase out use of bottled water for municipal employees.
Across the country, opposition to bottled water is building, amid growing concerns about the industry’s environmental impact and rising fears about private control of public water supplies.
“There’s no question that there is a groundswell,” said Ruth Caplan, coordinator of Defending Water for Life, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign that opposes the bottled water industry.
There are several reasons for the backlash to bottled water. Some of it is driven by fears about global warming - given the amount of oil needed to bottle and transport the water.
Some stems from concerns about the chemical makeup of plastic water bottles.
Some of the opposition is a byproduct of the huge price disparity between bottled water and the kind of water that comes from the tap for free.
Here in Maine, some of the local opposition to Poland Spring’s operations has stemmed from the traffic generated by the trucks that transport the water.
Perhaps the biggest factor, though, is a fear that as bottled water becomes more popular, private corporations are gaining more control over a natural resource that is central to life.
“The fundamental issue is, who owns the water?” said Jim Olson, an attorney for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, which has been engaged in a legal battle with Nestle. “If this company gets to do it, all companies get to do it, and you’re not going to be able to say no in the future.”
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We need to stop the commoditization of this resource which is the lifeblood of the Earth. Water is a human right. It cannot be bought by Nestle at the expense of the poor in countries where water is already scarce. It is a good sign to see people finally standing up to these companies. Last week’s decision by a York County water board to delay a vote on whether to sell municipal water to Nestle Corp., the owner of Pol... more -
Does Being An "Ethical" Corporation Pay? MIT Study Says YES.
For corporations, social responsibility has become a big business. Companies spend billions of dollars doing good works—everything from boosting diversity in their ranks to developing eco-friendly technology—and then trumpeting those efforts to the public.
But does it pay off?
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This study is interesting in light of recent conversations on Current on the topic of corporate responsibility vs. greed, CEO vs. worker pay, etc. My contention all along has been that corporations, bound by their duty to provide shareholders with maximum return on their investments, will only act responsibly when consumers start to reward them when they do and punish them when they don't.
So let this serve as another reminder to keep the pressure on EACH OTHER -- as consumers -- to demand more of the companies that serve us, and then watch as the corporations eventually follow suit. For corporations, social responsibility has become a big business. Companies spend billions of dollars doing good works—everything fro... more -
Government to release proposed fuel economy rules
Read Transportation Department Secretary Mary Peters lips as she marks Earth Day with an announcement on new energy law without teeth.
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The Corporate "Get-out-of-jail-free" Card
The New York Times reports that more corporations than ever are avoiding trial for their legal abuses. 35 companies including Monsanto, American Express, and others made deals with the Justice Department to avoid public trials for crimes such as bribery and money laundering. These deals allowed companies to accept "deferred prosecution agreement[s], which allows the government to collect fines and appoint an outside monitor to impose internal reforms without going through a trial. In many cases, the name of the monitor and the details of the agreement are kept secret."
For example, Monsanto bribed Indonesian officials to loosen their environmental standards, thereby allowing Monsanto's genetically modified and highly toxic cotton to be farmed. "In 2005, federal authorities concluded that a Monsanto consultant had visited the home of an Indonesian official and, with the approval of a senior company executive, handed over an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. The money was meant as a bribe to win looser environmental regulations for Monsanto’s cotton crops, according to a court document. Monsanto was also caught concealing the bribe with fake invoices."
Rather than face the criminal charges former administrations would have brought against these criminal activities, Monsanto paid a $1 Million dollar fine and agreed to government over site of their operations. The New York Times reports that more corporations than ever are avoiding trial for their legal abuses. 35 companies including Monsant... more -
Rising Sales of Bottled Water Trigger Strong Reaction From U.S. Conservationists
Bottled water sales in the United States reached 8.82 billion gallons in 2007, worth $11.7 billion, making the U.S. market for bottled water the largest in the world, according to Beverage Marketing, a provider of beverage industry data. Worldwide, water bottlers sold 47 billion gallons, or 178 billion liters, in 2006, up from 43 billion gallons in 2005.
Campaigners against bottled water cite concerns that include energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, waste, the environmental effect of water extraction, the perils of privatization and social issues.
"We're at the beginning of an awakening of the costs of our bottled water use," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a sustainable development research organization in Oakland, California.
Last year, the institute saw "cities canceling contracts and prohibiting employees from buying bottled water," Gleick said. "We saw restaurants very publicly moving away from bottled water. We saw public campaigns starting. We saw local controversies."
In the United States, city, state, and county governments have legislated to limit bottled water use or promoting tap water. Restaurants, schools, and religious groups have adopted similar policies, according to the Earth Policy Institute, in Washington.
The energy required to make water bottles in the United States is equivalent to 17 million barrels of oil annually, Gleick said. Globally, the bottling industry uses the equivalent of nearly 100 million barrels of oil each year, excluding transportation. Gleick said the Fiji brand of bottled water sold in Los Angeles traveled about 2,000 miles, or more than 3,000 kilometers, from the source to the store, effectively doubling its use of energy.
Making plastic water bottles causes greenhouse gas emissions and uses water - about three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water, Gleick said.
In the United States, less than 20 percent of water bottles are recycled, according to the Container Recycling Institute.
Jane Lazgin, spokeswoman for Nestlé Waters North America, said Nestlé was an industry leader in reducing the plastic in bottles. In April 2007, it introduced a bottle that used 30 percent less plastic than regular bottles. The company planned to move all of its products to the new bottle, she said.
Extraction also can have environmental effect. "Water is a renewable resource," Gleick said. "It's a cycle. But a renewable resource by definition is a flow-limited resource." Overextraction "affects everything around it: flows and rivers and streams, ecosystems, groundwater levels."
Climate change will increase pressure on freshwater supplies, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Gigi Kellett, director of the Think Outside the Bottle campaign with Corporate Accountability International, an organization that fights corporate abuse, said the water bottle industry was changing the public's opinion about water, from a basic right to a commodity. Bottled water sales in the United States reached 8.82 billion gallons in 2007, worth $11.7 billion, making the U.S. market for bottled... more -
Oil could hit $120 a barrel within six months
Crude oil may rise to $120 a barrel within six months due to the dollar weakness and global political tensions, the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. said.
``I think a trading range between $80 and $120 a barrel this year is about right,'' Peter Barker-Homek, the head of the United Arab Emirates state-controlled company, which is also known as Taqa, said in an interview in Dubai today. ``But with the softness of the dollar, and the occasional interruptions that you have because of politics, I think we could see $120 oil.''
In October, Barker-Homek said that crude would rise to $100 from $80 before the end of the first quarter because of unfettered Asian demand growth and possible supply shocks. Oil prices continued to rise today after the Taqa CEO made his latest forecast. Crude oil may rise to $120 a barrel within six months due to the dollar weakness and global political tensions, the chief executive of... more -
Bottled Water Boycotts: Back-to -the-tap Movement Gains Momentum
Boycotting bottled water, sodas and other unnecessary items in plastic will go a long way in my view in saving this planet from drowning and choking itself. I have boycotted all drinks in plastic bottles, plastic bags, and other useless plastic items and urge others to do the same. The state I live in is now considering doing away with plastic bags in stores. More and more cities and countries are seeing the truth about bottled water. It seems people are waking up to the destruction it does to this planet. And doing this not only saves on trash and pollution, it saves other species that eat the plastic in our waterways and die from it and also saves other resources. It is also the moral thing to do in light of the fact that over one billion people on this planet do not even have a potable source of water. To then think that people here only drink it to look fashionable actually makes me ill. We as a nation have a huge waking up to experience regarding our priorities and world view. This is a great step in that direction. Boycotting bottled water, sodas and other unnecessary items in plastic will go a long way in my view in saving this planet from drowni... more
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What Will Come Out of Bali?
This may well be our last chance. The world is watching.
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Say NO To Liquid Coal!
Please contact Congress and tell them to stop trying to push this down our throats in their effort to hold on to the status quo and maintain their campaign contributions while trying to make us believe they care about this planet. There is no such thing as clean coal and liquid coal is NOT a clean option. They would dare to include this in the Farm Bill and the Energy Bill yet they strip out tax incentives for alternate energy. There is something VERY wrong with the priorities and mindset of this Congress, and we must become much more vocal regarding the health of this planet, ourselves, and our children. Those who pick the gold bars over this planet are making a false choice. Liquid coal means double the global warming pollution...3 times the water usage...23% more mining...Coal kills. Please contact Congress and tell them to stop trying to push this down our throats in their effort to hold on to the status quo and ma... more
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Planting Carbon Deep In The Earth-Rather Than The Greenhouse
I am sure that carbon sequestration will play a role in how corporations deal with the climate crisis. And while I do agree that we need some way to scrub carbon industrially I do have questions regarding pumping it into the Earth. How deep could we go without causing earth quakes? Would it hurt groundwater supplies? Just where would it be buried and how would that effect living space? And would it eventually become a bandaid to corporations which would only permit them to continue to spew out millions of tons of GHGs daily knowing that they could just bury it underground? Should not the sole purpose of changing mindsets be to actually cut down on the amount that is actually emitted to begin with, with or without sequestration? Of course, there are also economic questions that go with this and just how corporations would make up for using such techniques in either passing on the cost to consumers, or in cutting other unnecessary operating costs without it affecting the cost of goods. On the whole I think it is one method that is viable but not as a sole way to mitigating carbon. In my view carbon caps and placing a monetary value on carbon would assure that levels would be kept in check to begin with. What do you think? I am sure that carbon sequestration will play a role in how corporations deal with the climate crisis. And while I do agree that we n... more
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Carbon Dioxide At Record High, Stoking Warming
And we have at best eight years to make that window. Pre- Industrial Revolution concentration of CO2 was 280 ppm. If current trends continue and we do nothing to mitigate CO2 emissions but continue spewing the millions of tons in the air we spew daily, the level would rise within 50 years close to 600 ppm ( I think anything close to 400-450ppm is catastrophic) and that would be catastrophic ///// From the link: "The WMO said levels rose 0.53 percent from 2005 to 381.2 parts per million of the atmosphere, 36 percent above levels before the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century."////end of excerpt./////Will we see anything useful come out of the Bali conference? We must. And we have at best eight years to make that window. Pre- Industrial Revolution concentration of CO2 was 280 ppm. If current trends co... more
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UN Chief Flies From Antarctica to Brazil Urging Climate Action
I hope he then tells president Da Silva that using land to grow biofuels on land that takes food out of peoples' mouths is tantamount to a human rights abuse. Especially in a country where the poor are not allowed to have control over the market when their president makes deals with conglomerates for profit.There are now options to corn ethanol that do not require taking food out of peoples' mouths and do not have an overall negative impact from cradle to grave. Therefore, the "climate action" that will now ensue must not be just accepted simply by placing that label on it. Any such action that winds up having a negative impact on the environment and the human condition cannot be considered a positive action no matter how "green" some may try to make it look. I hope he then tells president Da Silva that using land to grow biofuels on land that takes food out of peoples' mouths is tantam... more
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Fight Against Coal Draws Diverse Partners
Whether for philosophical or economic reasons, it is promising to see people of all political stripes coming together to fight coal companies that continue to pollute our environment and put profits over people and the planet. Whether for philosophical or economic reasons, it is promising to see people of all political stripes coming together to fight coal co... more
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The Nation: If Gore were Arrested...
Well, all I can say is that if Mr. Gore did decide to do this I would stand with him. And if he didn't I would stand with those who did do it. It is way past time to stand up for this planet and for ourselves! So my question is, would you stand at the barricades with Al Gore for this planet regardless of political opinions out of a moral desire to see justice for her and us? And that may not even mean surrounding a construction site if we can join together to influence state governments to stop these plants from being built. It hapened in Kansas this week, and it is happening in other states as well. And it is happening because of people applying pressure after seeing the moral imperative. That is why Mr.Gore's work and the work of all involved in doing this now is so important. So whatever you decide Mr. Gore, I am with you for my planet and for my child.
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article | posted October 24, 2007 (web only)
If Gore Were Arrested...
Mark Hertsgaard
Read more environmental news on Mark Hertsgaard's blog.
Fresh from winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his climate change evangelism, Al Gore is apparently considering an invitation from a prominent environmental group to engage in civil disobedience against the construction of new coal-fired power plants.
Rainforest Action Network issued the invitation to the former Vice President, according to RAN executive director Michael Brune. The San Francisco-based group has a twenty-year history of protesting against destructive logging practices and other causes of climate change; it specializes in targeting corporations as much as governments.
"We came across a quote from Gore in an interview with columnist Nicholas Kristof back in August, saying he didn't understand, quote, 'Why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers and preventing them constructing new coal-fired power plants,'" said Brune. "We thought, 'Great idea!' That's the kind of activism we do at RAN. So we decided to invite Gore to join us."
Gore's office confirmed that the former Vice President had received RAN's invitation and was considering it, though no decision has been made.
"He has not accepted any of their offers to date," Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman for Gore, said of the RAN offer. Kreider did not deny that this phrasing leaves open the possibility of Gore saying yes down the road.
RAN plans a national day of protest against coal on November 16, according to Brune.
If Gore did end up getting arrested during a protest against a coal-fired power plant, it would make front-page news throughout the world and put a spotlight on what some climate scientists and activists consider the single most important priority in the fight against climate change: halting the use of coal as the world's top source of electricity production. Coal is the most carbon-intensive of the three major fossil fuels (the others are oil and natural gas) whose combustion produces most of the carbon dioxide that is helping to raise temperatures and change climatic patterns on earth.
NASA scientist James Hansen, the man who first warned during testimony before the US Senate in 1988 that man-made greenhouse gas emissions were warming the planet, has called for a complete ban on new coal-fired power plants "until we have the technology to capture and sequester the CO2." That technology, Hansen estimates, is "probably five or ten years away." Any plants built without that technology "are going to have to be bulldozed," argues Hansen, if the earth is to avoid "dramatic climate changes that produce what I would call a different planet."
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~~~~~~ Well, all I can say is that if Mr. Gore did decide to do this I would stand with him. And if he didn't I would stand with those w... more
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Corporate Responsibility
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Corporate Responsibility
