Seeds of Change - E-News Summer 2009
As You Sow Planting Seeds For Social Change
 
In this issue:
As You Sow has been a long-distance runner keeping pressure on companies for a very long time. Their powers of dialogue and persuasion have helped turn around companies such as Disney on sweatshop issues.

Timothy Smith
Senior Vice President
Walden Asset Management

Record-Breaking Vote on Climate Change at IDACORP

A shareholder proposal filed by As You Sow at IDACORP--Idaho’s public utility--asking the company to set greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals won a majority vote of 51% on May 21, and was the highest proxy vote to date on a U.S. climate change proposal.

“This record-breaking vote of 51% dramatically shows that investors want companies to do more to address climate change” said Michael Passoff, Associate Director for As You Sow.

The vote was 25% higher than the highest vote on any U.S. climate change resolution thus far. Idaho Power gets the majority of its power from coal and was looking to expand coal facilities until recently. The company is now seeking permission to build a new natural gas plant that would both increase its exposure to emissions regulation and volatile natural gas prices.

Click on the image to read the press release about our win.

While Idaho Power gets a substantial amount of energy from large-scale hydro, it has not developed any non-hydro resources such as wind, solar, or geothermal. A 2007 Idaho Dept. of Energy plan found adequate renewable resource and efficiency opportunities within the state to handle all of Idaho Power’s needs for the next 20 years. As You Sow contends that by adopting energy efficiency practices such as providing incentives to agricultural irrigators to reduce peak energy use, the company could cut summer peak capacity by more than the total generating capacity of its proposed gas plant.

The company has promised to decide on greenhouse gas reduction goals by the end of the year. It just issued its first request for proposal for a wind farm and dropped a proposal for adding nuclear power capacity. As You Sow will be meeting with the company this summer to discuss smart grid and renewable energy pilot projects.

Companies Found Lagging on Alternatives to Bisphenol A

As part of our Environmental Health initiative, As You Sow and Green Century Funds released “Seeking Safer Packaging: Ranking Packaged Food Companies on BPA” in April.  Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the epoxy lining of food and beverage cans and in hard plastic.  Originally created as synthetic estrogen in the 1930s, BPA has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and metabolic disorders.  All companies surveyed used BPA in their can linings and were found to be taking insufficient steps to move toward alternatives.  Hain Celestial, Heinz, and Nestlé received top scores for their research and testing alternatives and their plans to phase out of the chemical. 

The report highlights the chemical industry’s involvement in getting a chemical linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and metabolic disorders approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  In response to consumer concerns, many companies are pulling out of BPA – most notably in baby bottles.  This spring, the FDA agreed to revisit its ruling on BPA and the chemical industry is circling its wagons to develop a new strategy to keep the lucrative but poisonous chemical in food packaging.  In the upcoming year, As You Sow and Green Century will engage the companies surveyed on their use of BPA, research into alternatives, and timelines for replacing the chemical in all of their products. Click here to read more about how As You Sow's Environmental Health Program addresses the health threat of BPA.

Apple Challenged on Laggard Climate Policies; 3 Companies Agree to Report

As You Sow challenged Apple Inc. to match the performance of its peers in a shareholder proposal presented at its annual meeting in May. HP, Dell, IBM and Intel have made public commitments to greenhouse gas reductions; Apple has not.

The proposal asked Apple to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address other environmental and social impacts such as toxics and recycling, as well as employee and product safety.  After the filing of our proposal, Apple released a series of product-based greenhouse gas emission estimates last October. But this data was inadequate to address our concerns. The company did not report GHG emission data in a way that makes it comparable with peers. Apple has received low scores in several studies evaluating the quality of its public GHG disclosure.

“It’s disappointing for Apple to have one of the world's foremost authorities on global warming, Al Gore, on its (Apple's) board but to lack a clear commitment to reduce greenhouse gases,” said Conrad MacKerron, director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Program. The proposal received the support of about 9% of shares voted. Click here to read our Program Directors GreenBiz article on Apple and Climate Change.

We were able to secure agreements by three mid-sized IT companies to participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project process in 2009. As You Sow withdrew proposals at Broadcom and Novell, and Jabil Circuit agreed before a proposal was filed.

As You Sow Hosts Uzbek Briefings in U.S. and Europe

As You Sow co-organized and hosted three briefings worldwide in May to highlight key environmental and social risks associated with cotton production. Held in San Francisco, Washington DC and London, the events focused on the historic initiative to eliminate forced child labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector. Click here to read more about our Anti-Slavery Program.

We brought together representatives from leading brands and retailers including Wal-Mart, Gap Inc., Tesco, and Target, with regional and governmental experts from the International Labor Organization (ILO), and U.S. Departments of State and Labor.

Also present were socially concerned investors from Calvert Group, Boston Common Asset Management and Veris Wealth Partners as well as human rights groups Human Rights Watch, Open Society Institute and Anti-Slavery International. Also, a few cotton merchants – key figures in the cotton supply chain that have not previously been engaged by the initiative – attended the briefings and expressed interest in becoming more involved in helping to bring about positive change in Uzbekistan.

Several companies decided to take immediate action based on information provided at the meetings, and issued communiqués to their suppliers notifying them to immediately cease any purchases of Uzbek cotton. Former ILO Director for the Sub-regional Office of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Elaine Fultz, complimented the multi-stakeholder initiative on its work thus far, noting that the Uzbek government has taken notice, and said the group’s actions are “having a significant effect.” Also in May, members of the stakeholder group met with high-level Uzbek government officials at the U.S. State Department to discuss ongoing exploitation of children in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector. Click here to watch Assoc. Program Director, Patricia Jurewicz speak about how As You Sow is working to bring about positive change in the global cotton sector.

Welcome New Staff Members

Holly Harbour, Development Manager. Holly has extensive experience in fundraising, program management, and communications with both international nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Prior to joining As You Sow, Holly was the Co-Founder and Executive Director at World of Good: Development Organization and currently serves on its board. She also worked at The Population Institute, and Trilogy Software. She was awarded a Future Leaders of the World Fellowship by the Population Institute. Holly has an MA from the London School of Economics in Population and Development, and a BA from Colorado College in International Political Economy.

Dan Fibiger, Human Rights Program Associate. Dan worked in Cambodia as Managing Director for a grassroots NGO. He holds a MA master’s degree in Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara, where he wrote his thesis on the political economy of Uzbekistan’s cotton sector and BA in Political Science and International Development Studies from McGill University.

Katherine Kassing, Communications Coordinator. Katherine recently moved over from a temporary position at our human rights program to help develop our media relations work. Katherine studied human rights and civil rights issues and holds a BA in French Literary Studies from the University of Puget Sound.