Shell gets a greenwash smackdown

The Greenwash Brigade

GreenBiz.com reports that greenwash complaints in the U.K. quadrupled last year.

The Guardian reported last week that complaints against Shell Oil Company's advertisements depicting pretty flowers, rather than toxic pollution, spewing from refinery stacks were upheld by the UK's Advertising Standards Association.

That same ad campaign earned Shell 4th place honors in the 2007 Worst EU Greenwash Awards.

Shell was edged out by another oil company, ExxonMobil, who took 3rd place for advertisements with the message that Exxon is "working to reduce emissions" when in actuality (by their own accounting), their emissions are increasing.

Oil companies, showing they haven't forgotten how to greenwash.

Not to be outdone by the oil industry, the coal industry is running an equally ridiculous campaign about 'clean coal'. The campaign earned Rainforest Action Network's "Greenwash of the Week".

Nice work, fellas.

If you're interested in more information on alternatives, the American Solar Energy Society's report, Tackling Climate Change in the U.S. outlines the promise offered by renewable energy and energy efficiency. And their Green Collar Jobs report explains how renewable energy and energy efficiency offer not just environmentally preferable alternatives to fossil fuels, but a way to do well by doing good.

May 9, 2008 by Jim Nicolow
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tags: clean coal ExxonMobil Shell

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Meet the Greenwash Brigade

Our hand-picked environmental professionals, each part of the Public Insight Network, are on the hunt for "greenwash" as they examine eco-friendly claims by companies, governments and other groups. They ask tough questions about the mainstreaming of green, from the perspectives of people in the trenches who are focused on these issues 24/7.

Jim Nicolow is a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design and leads the sustainability initiative for Lord, Aeck & Sargent, overseeing the incorporation of sustainable design strategies and features into the firm’s design projects. He is a LEED® Accredited Professional with extensive knowledge of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating system.

Janne K. Flisrand has worked as an affordable housing and urban planning research consultant for five years, primarily supporting local non-profits. Her focus is on transit, transit-oriented design, affordable housing, and sustainability. Currently, she’s the program coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities, a program promoting affordable, healthy, sustainably built housing throughout Minnesota.

Dennis Markatos-Soriano co-founded SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment), which aims to bring young progressives together across issues of environmental and social justice throughout North Carolina and beyond. In the summer of 2006, he helped to start a small green company, Greenway Pedicabs, to provide a greenhouse gas-free transportation option for people in the Triangle of North Carolina. He is currently pursuing a Master's in Public Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School.

Heidi Siegelbaum is president of Siegelbaum & Associates, which specializes in science translation, cross-border indicators with Canada, cross-disciplinary planning and environmental technical assistance to businesses. Increasingly, her focus is on sustainable tourism and green hotels. Previously, she was in-house legal counsel for EPA for industrial chemicals and biotechnology and the senior performance measure analyst for the Washington State Department of Ecology. She is on the executive committee of the Northwest Natural Resource Group, which brokers FSC forest certification and landowner business services.

NOTE: The opinions expressed by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of American Public Media or its employees. American Public Media is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers.

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