Top 10 Greenwashing Companies In America

The irony of the "green" movement of US companies is that many of the firms that spend the most money and public relations effort trying to show the government, the public, and their shareholders that they are trying to improve the environment are also among the most prolific polluters in the country. Pollution does not mean that the companies are doing anything illegal. Instead, it simply refers to natural consequence of the companies' industrial efforts which result in contamination to the air, soil or water by the discharge of substances that are toxic to the environment.

24/7 Wall St. has put together a list of the Top Ten Greenwashers in America. There may be some large companies that are greater polluters than these firms. There may be other corporations that do more to promote their pro-environment credentials. But those can be counted on two hands.

1) General Electric (GE)

In May 2005 GE announced its $90 million "Ecomagination" advertising campaign. According to Jeff Immelt, the company's CEO, "Ecomagination is GE's commitment to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water." The company said that revenue from 70 Ecomagination products and services would be $17 billion in 2008. Since its inception, Ecomagination has provided GE with countless opportunities to reflect its corporate concern over the environment. Arguably the whole effort is greenwashing.

2) American Electric Power (AEP)

According to the company, American Electric Power's 2008 Sustainability Report is a "comprehensive report offering a frank discussion" about their environmental performance and their strategies for sustainability. Michael G. Morris, the chairman, president, and CEO, says that sustainability is "Transparency and accountability, along with a close working relationship with our stakeholders, will grow our business, serve our shareholders' interest and create a better world for our children and grandchildren."

3) ExxonMobil (XOM)

Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the country's largest oil spill. As a result of the disaster, the ship spilled approximately 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound, Alaska. Since that time, ExxonMobil has spent millions of dollars in an attempt to regain the public's trust. In an effort to continue to improve the way the company is perceived, it has begun to aggressively market its green initiatives.

4) DuPont (DU)

In 2008 Dupont launched a marketing campaign called "Open Science." According to the company's website, "DuPont Open Science uses the power of collaboration to do extraordinary things. Explore how DuPont and its partners are helping the United States cultivates, taps new energies, and makes industries safer and eco-friendly." The site goes on to encourage the reader to "Explore how DuPont and its partners are tackling the issues of our age: food shortages, dwindling petroleum, and global warming."

5) Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

Biofuel, ethanol and biodiesel, have quickly become the darlings of the green economy. They are heralded as renewable energy sources that some say can either reduce or entirely replace reliance on petroleum to fuel internal combustion engines. According to the company's site, "a world in need of clean, renewable fuels to meet growing energy demand and achieve greater energy security is turning to agriculture for answers." As one of the largest diversified agribusinesses in the world, the company maintains that it has the necessary scale and expertise to be a leader in the production of biofuels. Its mission is "to unlock the potential of nature to improve the quality of life."

Read the rest of the list (and more details on the companies above) at 247wallst.com

Comments

[sheila]

04:41 PM on 04/04/2009

Let's not forget CEERT, which takes money from Big Energy (including the #1 Greenwasher on this list, GE, which also has a seat on their Board of Directors, and is an "affiliate") and filters it to Sierra Club and NRDC to "educate" conservationists who oppose killing wilderness for Big Energy profits, via their Big Solar program. They also control the RETI process, which is a series of lies piled on other lies to site "renewable" energy projects far from point of use, in order to maximize profits for their paymasters, no matter how great the harm to the planet, the destroyed ecosystems, ratepayers, rural communities, property owners or others - none of whom are allowed to participate.

It is so much worse when the people we rely on to SAVE our planet are so deeply involved in actively killing millions of acres of it to enrich Big Energy companies. Big Energy has exactly the same rapacious mentality whether they are killing the planet for coal profits, or killing it for remote solar profits. There is NO excuse for CEERT or Big Enviros to support wilderness killing projects that increase GHG emissions (like Big solar and Big Wind and Big Transmission), while steadfastly refusing to support democratic solutions which do no harm to the environment (like feed in tariffs for rooftop solar).

[JnrNorman]

01:47 PM on 04/03/2009

In New Hampster we had marinas power washing boats with soap in a sling over the lake.
The local papers published the pictures people took.
They said it wasnt illegal (that was 15 years ago)
They did stop doing it.


Food Fascism
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum959.php

[CrzyRussell]

12:33 PM on 04/03/2009

Any company, regardless of their industry, who attempts to become greener should be commended not condemned.

Every little bit helps.

[rf-hawaii]

02:10 PM on 04/03/2009

Sure, but the one's that only attempt to appear greener should be pointed out and condemned.

[CrzyRussell]

03:25 PM on 04/03/2009

This article shows bias against the industry as a whole.

[theubermensch]

11:22 AM on 04/03/2009

You can do a better list then list, but yeah I am sick of the word green. Do it or don't do it, and don't lie about it and if you do it do it right.

[Greenguy25]

10:55 AM on 04/03/2009

"Green Washing" is when you flat out lie about your environmental standards and none of the companies listed in this article are guilty of that, if fact all but three are actually leaders in environmental progress with relation to their size.

While it is true that most of these companies are responsible for their fair share of environmental degradation and spend lots of advertising dollars to cover up those realities, they are still doing more in regards to sustainability than most and to label them as "green washers" is just misleading.

Do the small businesses in this country that develop GreenScene EMS programs in order to make the smallest of difference be called "green washers"? Absolutely not! If your company has an Environmental Management System in place, big or small, you should be out there shouting it to the world.
http://www.greensceneems.com

[rf-hawaii]

02:32 PM on 04/03/2009

An interesting bending of the meaning of "green washing" to sell one's own site.