Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Greenwashing Big Oil

The Alberta Tar Sands is the largest and arguably dirtiest industrial project in human history. So how do the oil companies go about defeating the First Nations and bona fide environmental networks opposed to the project? The answer according to Macdonald Stainsby and Dru Oja Jay, authors of Offsetting Resistance: the effects of foundation funding and corporate fronts, is to buy their own environmental group to negotiate with the government on their behalf.

That organization, Tar Sands Coalition (a Tides project), can then be counted on to help smother the grassroots environmental movement. As oil corporations like Tar Sands investor Sunoco look to defeat environmentalism and indigenous peoples from the Arctic to Patagonia, giant multi-billion dollar foundations like Pew Charitable Trusts are critical.

Using money-laundering operations like Tides to help them, Pew (same family that owns Sunoco), Rockefeller, Ford and Hewlett Foundations — all benefactors of the San Francisco-based Tides Foundation — can then effectively greenwash corporate fronts masquerading as environmental organizations. When organizations like The Nature Conservancy, Greenpeace, and Sierra Club can be bought off by big oil, the only thing to do is expose the colossal fraud. In their remarkable report, messrs. Stainsby and Jay have done just that.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Irish Language

Irish Language Immersion Weekend is October 2-4.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Preventing Change

God save us from the social innovators.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Big Talk Little Walk

Having forsaken every progressive principle he paid lip service to during his campaign, President Obama is now reduced to doing PR stunts like his address to America's youth. While this is a refreshing change from presidents landing on aircraft carriers, in essence it's the same thing: big talk, little walk.

Americans may have come to expect such shallow amelioratives in lieu of actual public service, but it's sad to see people like former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown saying we should lighten up on Obama. I mean, we're talking about the man who presided over the largest transfer of public wealth to the private sector in the history of the world, wealth that could and should have been used for such things as public health and education.

Willie knows better. Now we need to tell our kids.

Friday, September 04, 2009

March for Milk

For those who were inspired by the movie Milk, this October 10-11 is an opportunity to join Cleve Jones and others portrayed in this memorable film in the National Equality March. Get out there and march for justice, march for Milk.