Word: greenwash
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...trust will be quickly won back. At least 17 people died earlier this month after an attack by armed militants on a Shell facility in the Niger Delta only days after four oil workers were kidnapped. Corporate alliances with some activist groups are often viewed suspiciously or derided as "greenwash" by more radical NGOs. Furedi, the University of Kent sociology professor, says that companies may ultimately be more hurt than helped if they try to make over their public image too aggressively, because they risk repudiating who and what they really are. "BP is spending billions to change its image...
While environmentalists generally laud these efforts, corporate pledges to go green tend to be the first casualties when business gets tough, and enviros often criticize the promises as "greenwash"--really, business as usual. In 2000, Ford Motor lit up the Birkenstock crowd by promising to improve SUV fuel economy 25% by 2005; three years later, the firm reneged amid a steep sales slump and $6.4 billion in losses. Ford has started issuing reports on its environmental impact and is taking steps to address global warming. But nowhere in the publicity efforts do you hear that the firm is part...
...question, as Dairon suggested, is whether all this marks a tangible change in the way corporations behave or whether it's simply "greenwash," an elaborate public relations exercise designed to make firms appear more sensitive than they really are. Total, with sales of $125 billion, could certainly stand to burnish its image. Several former managers were just convicted in a sensational corruption case in France, and the company stands accused of using forced labor to build a gas pipeline in Myanmar, which it vigorously denies. Total's image at home was especially sullied by a devastating oil spill that polluted...
...even making ethics a focal point of their marketing. "Profits. Principles. Or Both?" reads the tagline on a series of recent Shell ads. The big question, as Dairon suggested, is whether all this marks a tangible change in the way corporations behave, or whether it's simply "greenwash," a p.r. exercise designed to make firms appear sensitive to consumers concerned about the impact of globalization. Why is Total's move toward corporate responsibility happening now? The main reason is that they're feeling pressure from investors, not just activists. There's a small but growing industry of politically attuned stock...
Other independent groups are emerging to certify that companies' boasts about particular products are true. "It's getting more and more complicated to 'greenwash,'" says Reid Lifset, a faculty member at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The Environmental Protection Agency's "Energy Star" label for efficient consumer appliances is the best-known program. Beyond that, Green-e, based in San Francisco, certifies energy that comes from such renewable sources as sun or wind, while Green Seal, of Washington, blesses various consumer products from air conditioners to paper towels...