NRDC

Here's the link:
http://www.nrdc.org/

And here's why you should click it.

"NRDC is the nation's most effective environmental action group, combining the grassroots power of 1.3 million members and online activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals."

The NRDC website is a comprehensive resource that offers everything from profiles on pending environmental issues to investigative journalism, advice on how to create a green business model to analyzes of recent climate legislation. It's a good jumping off point for educating your self on all matters environmental, especially that important first step...finding out what the issues actually are.

(A3) Dow and "The Human Element"

Here is a commercial for Dow Chemical:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3byt7xMSCA&feature=player_embedded

From a purely pragmatic standpoint, I have to admit, this is a great commercial. For the first thirty seconds you can barely tell that it's advertising anything. Those beautiful shots! Those smiling faces! This could be the intro to Planet Earth! The copy is clever. The music is soothing. The pace of the editing is slow, which makes it feel like a thought provoking short film. Then right at the end...Dow chemical, a simple logo and then the commercial is over. They don't pitch their services or contributions endlessly. They just leave you with a good taste in your mouth, a taste you associate with Dow. You think Dow, you think conscientious and thoughtful. A job well done.

So how about Dow and the human element in the real world? Here are some facts that tarnish that carefully applied gloss:
-Dow! Creator of Agent Orange!
- "Union Carbide, a Dow subsidiary, was responsible for the world’s worst industrial disaster in Bhopal, India. Dow Chemical has never taken responsibility for or cleaned up the poisonous gas disaster in Bhopal, which killed 8,000 people within two weeks and caused the deaths of an additional 8,000 people in the years since due to gas-related diseases"(http://webecoist.com/2009/03/22/greenwash-worlds-worst-greenwashers/).
- "Dow Chemical refuses to clean up the dioxin contamination in the Tittabawasee and Saginaw Rivers in Michigan, claiming that scientific proof does not exist that dioxins are harmful to humans. Dow has been dumping these chemicals in the rivers for more than a century"(http://webecoist.com/2009/03/22/greenwash-worlds-worst-greenwashers/).

I notice this photo didn't make it into their commercial!

(A2) BP covers the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival!

So I don't know if this technically counts as greenwashing, but it is a perfect example of the kind of chicanery that BP churns out, something that will undoubtedly resurface in future entries. So, for your viewing pleasure:

http://bp.concerts.com/gom/louisianashrimpandpetroleumfest_090510.htm

Surely this must be the most ironic festival of all time, especially in the context of the oil spill, which has put the shrimp and petroleum industries at extreme odds in Louisiana and all along the Gulf.

The video is a simply a succession of specious claims strung together in order to make BP look like they have the community's best interests at heart. Images of people riding carousels with babes in their arms and going to mass outdoors are supposed to lull us into believing that all is well on the Gulf coast. We hear lots of sound bites from individuals hand picked and coached to make it appear that BP has been the heart and soul of the rehabilitation efforts, but the video shows no images of community betterment beyond eating kebabs and even the people on camera can barely muster up enough cheer to convince us they believe what they are saying.

Jonathan Burton, captain of Morgan City port, quotes "In the last five years, this area's gone through tremendous upheaval, starting with Hurricane Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and of course the spill is the latest for that, but at the same time, these people are used to bouncing back, they're used to taking things in stride, handling it and moving on," and Lee Delaune, the festival's organizer, tentatively ventures "Morgan City is full of shrimp this weekend!", but of course he fails to mention that all that shrimp for this year's festival is coming from the east coast.

"If something happens wrong, we fix it!" asserts Tom Mhire, BP's community outreach coordinator, at the end of the video. Perhaps Mr. Mhire could be correct if one's definition of "fix" is to spend money desperately needed to clean up the Gulf on a comprehensive whitewashing campaign whose veneer of legitimacy is so thin even the people who made it don't buy it.

(A1) TXU Energy Earth Day!

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about TXU:
"Energy Future Holdings Corporation is an electric utility company headquartered in Energy Plaza in Downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. The company was known as TXU until its $45 billion leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Texas Pacific Group and Goldman Sachs. That purchase was the largest leveraged buyout in history."

So what to make of this commercial?
http://wn.com/TXU_Energy_Earth_Day_Commercial

On top of that, this coal burning conglomerate is also putting on its second annual Earth Day festival in Houston. The festival, which features a 5k run, as well as number of performances by local cover bands, professes to "focus on the merits of mindful, sustainable living while educating and encouraging Houstonians to preserve, conserve and enhance our city and the Earth". First, on a superficial level, how does a 5k run focus on the merits of sustainable living? Also, I'm curious how much gas and electricity is consumed during a day long concert/expo for 10,000 people and whether or not the festival organizers are going to have to pay for that power? Sure there are compostable cups for the runners and you have a chance to win a hybrid car, but their "farmer's market" is sponsored by Sysco!

Therefore I call green-washing on this shindig. http://www.earthdayhouston.org/event-zones.php