Greenwash: The 21st Century Environmental Whitewash

by Mike Hall, Dec 2, 2007

Like apple pie and motherhood, everybody lately—from regular folks to big corporations—is professing their love for the environment in this age of global warming, ozone holes, shrinking ice caps and climate crisis.

But who really is making an effort to reduce our environmental footprints—and who is merely talking the talk? According to a new report from the United Steelworkers (USW), DuPont is just moving its lips when the global chemical giant claims it’s fighting for a cleaner world.

The union charges DuPont with “Greenwashing,” or disseminating disinformation to pump up its environmental image. Says USW President Leo W. Gerard:

DuPont is skillful in giving the public the impression it truly is concerned and engaging in activities to create a ‘better, safer, healthier planet,’ but when its profit motive collides with the environment, profit usually wins out.

DuPont and Greenwash, is the first in a series of “Greenwashing” reports the USW plans to release. It notes that various DuPont products are likely to dramatically impact global warming as greenhouse gases when they are disposed and used. It also finds the emissions from those products could be enormous, possibly canceling out or exceeding DuPont’s touted reductions in greenhouse gases from its facilities. The USW report says the company refuses to disclose the climate impact of those products.

In addition, DuPont and Greenwash points out that non-greenhouse alternatives to DuPont’s coolants are available, but because DuPont and other companies are lobbying to maintain the market for their products, the alternatives are not being widely used.

DuPont CEO Charles “Chad” O. Holliday Jr., says the company’s goals include “the future of our planet—the one we live on today and the better, safer and healthier planet that we aspire to leave for tomorrow.” But as the report says:

[T]hese lofty goals collide with the reality of DuPont’s actions.

The report points out how DuPont fails match its environmental rhetoric with its business reality:

• DuPont’s voluntary actions lack accountability, consistent transparency, and enforceability. They are a poor substitute for the regulations that DuPont and its trade associations are working to block.
• When it comes to harmful products like perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and ozone depleters, the DuPont strategy is often to be one of the last producers in the market, fighting regulatory restrictions and prolonging sales till change is inevitable.
• DuPont denies that PFOA causes harm to health, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. (Click here to read more about the USW’s and Sierra Club’s efforts to control PFOA discharge and exposure in California.)
• DuPont’s emissions of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC’s) are not reported by the company on a global basis, even though they contribute mightily to global warming.
• DuPont sales of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC’s) and HCFC’s lead to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the end use and disposal of these products. DuPont’s greenhouse gas reduction numbers are dramatically enhanced by the company failing to calculate how its greenhouse gas products affect the climate after they are sold.
• DuPont reports in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) report on how it aids local bird nesting, but fails to report on its serious local water pollution challenges, despite harmful discharges of PFOA and dioxins.

Click here read the entire report.

The USW has become a leading labor voice in the campaign to protect the environment and reduce global warming. The union has partnered with the Sierra Club in the Blue-Green Alliance and is part of the Apollo Alliance to create “green collar” jobs through the use of new energy sources and other pro-environment economic initiatives.

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