Mountain Equipment Co-op
From humble beginnings in Vancouver in 1971, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) expanded into a leading Canadian retailer of recreational and camping gear. MEC is a "values based" company with a website larded with eco-propaganda. They sponsor Bikefests and Paddlefests. MEC's Fund for the Environment purchased, and intends to enclose, $1.3 million worth of land. Since 1987 MEC has given $12.7 million to ENGOs. Giving will increase as they implement their "1% For the Planet" program. MEC enviro-donations were $2 million in 2007.
In 2009 MEC gave $150,000 to Alberta-based ENGOs such as: Southern Alberta Land Trust ($25,000), Nature Canada ($12,831 for the "Save Suffield" campaign), Sierra Club ($30,000 for grizzly and water activism in Alberta), and Water Matters ($15,000). MEC also funds Western Athabasca Watershed Bioregional Society's anti-mining activism.
(Much MEC merchandise is made in Chinese factories powered by coal-fired electricity.) (75)
Waste Management's logo is "Think Green". WM is North America's leading garbage removal company ("environmental services provider"). WM owns 273 landfills, 134 recycling plants, and 16 waste-to-energy power plants. WM's website is all about sustainability. On WM's Greenopolis internet news network, rock stars denounce corporate greed. Both WM Inc and WM Canada Inc fund ENGOs but neither are forthcoming with details. (76)
Over the last three years
British Petroleum's annual revenues averaged $300 billion (US$) and their profits hovered near $20 billion. BP's slogan is "Beyond Petroleum". They have pumped out global warming propaganda for 25 years and are capitalizing on the transition from coal-fired to gas-fired electrical generation. BP is a cap-and-trade legislation booster and has extensive investments in wind power, solar power, and biofuels.
BP's involvement in oilsands is internally divisive. Prior to BP's 2010 AGM, Greenpeace led a campaign to convince shareholders to divest oilsands assets. Shareholders owning 15% of BP, led by California Public Employees Retirement System, voted to divest.
Since 2007 one of BP's Environmental Giving programs, A+ for Energy, has spent $1.7 million giving 123 workshops to 30,000 Albertan students. (77)
Calgary-based Enbridge owns 13,000 kilometres of pipeline. Enbridge pays lip service to Corporate Social Responsibility and is committed to reducing CO2 emissions, which they boast of having monitored since 1995. Enbridge's six wind farms account for 4% of Canada's wind power capacity. Enbridge built the world's first hybrid fuel cell power plant. They installed solar panels on pipelines to reduce propane use.
In 2007
Enbridge gave $5.7 million to charities. Their Natural Legacy Program funds: Tree Canada, Nature Conservancy Canada, Trout Unlimited Canada, Alberta Emerald Foundation, Evergreen, Pacific Salmon Foundation, and Ducks Unlimited Canada. The $550,000 they gave Canadian ENGOs in 2009 did not spare Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline proposal from being assailed by environmentalists. (78)
Calgary-based
Encana puts out boilerplate Corporate Social Responsibility rhetoric and gifts 1% of pre-tax profits. Their Environmental Innovation Fund finances alternative energy and CO2 reduction research. None of this money is spent in Alberta. Encana "share(s) the public's concern for the environment and we partner with organizations that are for and protect the environment
." Partners are Alberta Ecotrust, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and Inside Education. (79)
Imperial Oil (69.6% owned by ExxonMobil) owns 2,000 Esso stations in Canada. Imperial is directly involved in the oilsands with their Kearl Project and indirectly through their 25% ownership of Syncrude.
Imperial Oil Foundation and Imperial Oil Community Support, combined, disbursed $22 million last year. $2.2 million went directly to ENGOs and more went indirectly as their environment and education programs overlap. Of the 40 ENGOs funded by Imperial, half are either Albertan (Alberta Conservation Association, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, Calgary's Environmental Expo, Western Sky Land Trust) or are national groups whose Imperial-financed projects are situated in Alberta (Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Conservancy Canada). (80)
Suncor, owned by the Pews until the 1990s, is a major oilsands producer. Suncor owns four wind farms including two in Alberta. Suncor's biofuel facility at St. Clair, Ontario turns 20 million bushels of corn into 200 million litres of ethanol annually. They plan to double capacity with a $120 million investment. To prove this facility's ecological bona fides, Suncor hired Pembina Institute to do a Life Cycle Value Assessment. Pembina dutifully conjectured St Clair reduces CO2 emissions by 300,000 tonnes a year.
Between 1998 and 2008 Suncor Energy Foundation "invested" $48 million in charities. Priority locales were: Fort McMurray, Edson, Grand Prairie, Calgary, and Edmonton. Priorities subjects were education and "projects that generate awareness in environmental issues and strengthen the impact of environmental organizations
." They gave Ducks Unlimited Canada $1.5 million in 2008. (81)
Shell Canada accounts for 30% of the assets of its parent, Royal Dutch Shell. The parent company (102,000 employees) was the first major oil company to join the global warming hoax. They are well invested in gas-fired electricity, biofuels and carbon capture and storage. Royal Dutch Shell funds elite ENGOs like Wetlands International and International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (82)
Since 2000 Shell Canada has "invested" $75 million in: employee well-being and education (emphasizing native education) and environmentalism. Over a 30-year period Shell Canada graced Nature Conservancy Canada with $6.5 million in cash and land. They also fund Tree Canada. In Alberta Shell funds three conservancies (Cross, Big Hill Springs, and Mount Broadhead). They fund an ecological restoration project near Rocky Mountain House and are involved in the Kananaskis-area Moose Mountain Environmental Enhancement joint venture with Husky Oil and Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition. Shell Canada's Environment Fund provides many $10,000 grants for "grassroots action orientated projects" such as Calgary's Two Wheel View. A companion program offers grants of up to $100,000. (83)
Talisman Energy Inc's Calgary head office oversees operations in North America, Southeast Asia, and the North Sea. (Talisman owns an experimental wind farm off the Scottish coast.) In 2008 Talisman's "investment in communities" program spread $7.5 million across this area. The $3.9 million distributed in Canada mostly went to education. Talisman awarded Ducks Unlimited Canada $500,000 for a five-year environmental education program, Project Webfoot, presented in 50 communities. (84)
By operating a diverse collection of energy assets, including 60,000 kilometres of pipeline, TransCanada Pipeline generates $1 billion a year in profits. Ownership of coal-fired power plants puts them in conflict with environmentalism. Nevertheless, the company uses the climate change agenda to promote its natural gas and nuclear assets. They own wind farms in Maine and Quebec.
TransCanada engages in wildlife conservation on its properties. As well, its Community Connections office funds ENGOs because
"we are committed to environmental education and stewardship within the areas of air emissions, water equality and species at risk." TransCanada partners with Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Canada, Trout Unlimited Canada, and finances a wetlands project at Calgary's Heritage Park. (85)
Also in the energy business, although no longer a producer, is City of Edmonton's EPCOR. They provide electrical transmission and water services to Edmonton and area. EPCOR is one of Canada's top ten "Earth-friendly" employers. Their "environmental vision" compels them to promote electricity conservation.
On the water front EPCOR's primary concern is drinking water safety, not protecting wildlife or using chemical scares to suppress industry. An EPCOR panel studying water run-off from confined livestock operations focused on Cryptosporidium and Giardia and concluded there was no cause for alarm.
At the same time, EPCOR partners with Ducks Unlimited Canada, North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, River Watch, and Rocky Riparian Group. EPCOR funded several environmentalist agriculture groups and Nature Alberta's "Living near Urban Lakes" brochure. This appeasement has not spared EPCOR from serious environmentalist obstruction. (86)
There are many lesser corporate contributors to Albertan environmentalism. The following are named as sponsors by ENGOs active in Alberta:
Devon Energy, Dundee Wealth Management, Filtralite, Genstar, Great Canadian Superstores, Google Inc, Honda, Lexus, Sapphire, Shaw, Sobeys, Vale Inco, and Tim Hortons. Honourable mention goes to International Netherlands Group (ING) -- the first bank to go 100% carbon neutral and a regular supporter of "biodiversity". Also noteworthy is boutique bath products retailer, Lush, who recently ordered employees at 150 stores to dress up in plastic barrels to protest oilsands production. This action was done in cooperation with Greenpeace and Forest Action Network who supplied the fib that oilsands producers emit 300% more CO2 than conventional oil producers (actually 10% more). (87)
The forest industry, a traditional foe of environmentalists, has also cut the low road of appeasement. The 62-member Alberta Forest Products Association created ForestCare in 1990 to ensure members reforest harvested areas and allow for "multiple" (read: enviro) forest usage. More jarring was Forest Products Association of Canada's 2010 capitulation to the Canadian Boreal Initiative.
Footnotes:
- mec.ca
- wm.com
- bp.com
- enbridge.com
- encana.com
- imperialoil.ca
- suncor.com
- shell.com
- shell.ca
- talisman-energy.com
- transcanada.com
- epcor.ca
- Financial Post June 9 2010 and Toronto Sun June 9, 2010
William Walter Kay, Ecofascism.com
William can be reached at: williamwkay@yahoo.ca
