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Top 10 Least Green Companies in America
Many
of the U.S. companies spending the most money and public
relations effort trying to "prove" their environmental
concerns are also the worst polluters in the country.
24/7 Wall St. profiles 10 of the biggest offenders.
According to various reports and allegations:
 1) General Electric
(GE)
GE was the fifth largest producer of
chemicals.
Four
GE facilities generated 332,336 pounds
in waste in 2007.
GE's Osmonics facility produced 1,919,437
pounds of TRI production-related waste.
GEs the 6th most toxic company regarding the
publics exposure to its pollution and the
toxicity level from its plants. |
 2) American
Electric Power (AEP)
AEP
is one of nation's biggest polluters and
one the key lobbyists against political
interests on global warming.
AEP
aggressively seeks to block legislation
unless it receives a huge financial wind
fall in the deal.
AEP's
corporate PAC donated to five members
of the Dirty Dozen as well as Congressman
Barton. |
 3) ExxonMobil (XOM)
Since at least 1998,
ExxonMobil
has spent
$17 - $23 million to bankroll groups,
scientists, and individuals in a effort to
discredit the reality of global warming. |
 4) DuPont (DD)
In 2005
DuPont had to pay $16,500,000
for failing to report possible health risks
associated with perfluorooctanoic acid, a
chemical compound used to make Teflon.
At that time,
DD's
fine was the largest penalty in EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]
history. |
 5) Archer Daniels
Midland (ADM)
ADM's production of bio fuels (corn) creates
so much pollution that it offsets the
benefits gained when the fuel is used to
power engines.
ADM publicly touts biofuels' green benefits,
but fails to mention the environmental
costs. |
 6) Waste Management,
Inc. (WMI)
Since 2005,
Wmi
has spent more
than $90,000,000 advertising how many trees
it saved through recycling, the land it set
aside for wildlife habitats, and the energy
it generates through burning trash that
might otherwise be dumped in landfills.
What
WMI DOESN'T mention is that
incinerators discharge mercury, lead, and
dioxin into the atmosphere.
WMI also generates more carbon dioxide than
power plants based on each hour of use.
|
 7) International Paper
(IP)
IP was the largest producer of chemicals.
One facility alone generated 43,320,612
pounds of TRI related waste.
15 other
IP facilities generated 42,554,027
pounds in waste.
In 2008, the Rainforest Action Network
condemned an
IP proposal to build a pulp
mill in Indonesia's rainforest.
This was DESPITE
IP's internal policy not
expand into Indonesia because it is a global
warming and biodiversity hot spot. |
 8)
BP
BP
earned a CorpWatch "greenwash" award for
"corporations that put more money, time and
energy into slick PR campaigns aimed at
promoting their eco-friendly images, than
they do to actually protecting the
environment."
In
2009, Greenpeace reported that
BP "allocated
9% of its investment fund ($20,000,000,000
to develop and extract oil, gas and other
fossil fuels.
Solar
power was allocated just 1.39%
Wind
power only received
2.79%
Recently,
BP settled with EPA stemming from charges
related to violations of The Clean Air Act.
|
 9) Dow Chemical (DOW)
In 2001 Michigan tests showed
that "levels of dioxins detected in soil in
the city of Midland and in the fish in the
Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland
exceed health-based comparison
values." Dioxin is believed to cause
cancerous effects at extremely low levels of
exposure.
In 2007,
Dow
agreed to three
EPA orders to clean up sediment on the Tittabawassee River.
As recently as 2008,
Dow
has
not followed through on all orders. These
areas include some of the highest dioxin
levels recorded in the Great Lakes region.
In July of 2008
Dow
Chemical
told the EPA it agreed to clean up dioxin
contamination in the Riverside Boulevard
neighborhood.
That cleanup has yet to be
completed. |
10) General Motors (GM)
A 2007, a Union of Concerned
Scientists study ranked
GM as the second
worst polluter out of eight major car
companies.
In 2007,
GM manufactures the
most cars that have 15 MPG or worse in city
driving.
In 2008, the American Council
for Energy-Efficient Economy said
GM's
numbers had not improved.
The Hummer H2 is rated number
1 as a pollutant. |
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