 | | ©Mark Rasmussen. Image from BigStockPhoto.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Mari Margil,
Corporate Ethics International, (503) 381-1755 cell
David Waskow, Friends of the Earth, (202) 492-4660 cell
Groups Call on Wal-Mart to End
Contributions to
Anti-Environmental Candidates
Report finds Wal-Mart PAC
Supported Over 100 Members of Congress Who Scored 10% or Less on LCV
Scorecard
Washington, DC
– Eleven environmental and corporate accountability groups joined together
today to send a letter to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott to call upon the world’s
largest retailer to end its political contributions to anti-environmental
candidates.
The letter accompanied a report prepared by Corporate
Ethics International and Friends of the Earth, analyzing the company’s PAC
contributions during the most recent election cycle. The report finds that while Wal-Mart has made
a number of public commitments recently to reduce its environmental impact, its
campaign contributions overwhelmingly support candidates who routinely vote
against the environment.
The
company’s campaign contributions fly in the face of Wal-Mart’s latest effort to
burnish its environmental reputation with a statement this past weekend
supporting a new business-endorsed plan on global warming. The majority of Wal-Mart PAC’s contributions
have supported Members of Congress who have actively worked against legislative
efforts to curb global warming and President Bush, who has fought against
meaningful action on climate change.
“From Congress to the White House, Wal-Mart’s
political dollars are supporting a very different environmental agenda than the
company would have us believe,” said Mari Margil
of Corporate Ethics International. “We
call upon the company to ends its contributions to anti-environmental
candidates and bring its stated intentions and actions in line.”
“If Wal-Mart is to ever be a true leader on the environment,
it must address its political involvement,” said David Waskow of Friends of the
Earth, “Wal-Mart PAC contributes to
candidates who actively support policies that fundamentally undermine, and
indeed dwarf, the company’s stated goal to reduce its environmental impacts.”
The report, Wal-Mart’s
Political Contributions to Anti-Environment Candidates, finds that during
the 2005-2006 election cycle, Wal-Mart PAC gave money to more than 30 Members
of Congress who scored 0% on the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Scorecard
for the 109th Congress. Nearly
40% of contributions went to Members of Congress who have scored 10% or less and
two-thirds went to those who scored less than 50%.
The full report and letter can be found at www.corporateethics.org and www.foe.org.
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