Posts by AsYouSow
Goodyear Must Include Microplastic Proposal In Proxy

As You Sow Senior Vice President Conrad MacKerron said in a statement that car tires are ‘a growing source of toxic microplastic pollution that harms ecosystems and fish, and may pose danger to human health.’ The group said tire wear particles account for an estimated 78% of microplastic leakage into oceans, and that tire wear emissions become airborne and can pose ‘serious human health risks.’" Read More →

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Big banks abandoned a voluntary climate alliance. Now, critics are calling for new laws.

“Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel for the shareholder advocacy nonprofit As You Sow, said disclosure is a prerequisite for holding banks to their climate goals. ‘We want to understand what it is they’re doing,’ she said. Laws like California’s bring to light the financial instability wrought by fossil fuel-driven climate change and — in theory, at least — discourage financing that would exacerbate it.” Read More →

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US companies face shareholder push for 'say-on-climate' votes

As You Sow, which focuses on corporate environmental and social responsibility, told CQ Roll Call that a shareholder proposal submitted to railroad company Union Pacific Corp. seeking the “say-on-climate” vote is the first of many the group plans to put forward for consideration in 2021. The group says it’s also working on a petition to regulators to mandate these votes. Read More →

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A $7 trillion climate change warning to the stock market from its biggest shareholder

As You Sow has targeted BlackRock at its own annual meeting in the past for its failure to support more resolutions. Andrew Behar delivered a speech from the floor of the BlackRock meeting last year pointing to what he sees as a disconnect between BlackRock’s words and actions, for “using its big stick like a wet noodle” Behar says, and that means he remains skeptical until he sees the results from the upcoming annual meeting season. Read More →

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Republic Services highlights plastic market limitations, clarifies EPR stances, in report

As pressure builds to find a solution to the current status quo around plastics management, the recycling industry is increasingly being asked how it will play a part. This report, and another previously released by Waste Management, were the result of shareholder resolutions led by As You Sow. Read More →

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Corporations roll out climate goals amid growing pressure to deliver

Lila Holzman, energy program manager with As You Sow, which works with shareholders and businesses on corporate responsibility plans, said her group encourages companies to set big goals that align with the targets scientists have determined are necessary to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of global warming while also charting out more feasible shorter-term steps that get them started on the right path. Read More →

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SEC approves rule that investing advocates say will ‘crush shareholder voices’ and curbs some whistleblower paydays

“The SEC’s rule demonstrates a failure to comprehend that [Environmental, Social and Governance] issues, including climate change, increasingly have material impacts on company value,” said Andrew Behar of As You Sow, a nonprofit, ESG-issue expert that often represents shareholders on a range of material issues. Read More →

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Can Gas-Fired Power Plants Coexist With a Net-Zero Target? Yes, Southern Company Insists

Lila Holzman, energy program manager of nonprofit group As You Sow, called Southern Company’s decision to exclude Scope 3 emissions from its plan an “unacceptable” approach. She also criticized the plan’s lack of detail on the costs and risks of relying on as-yet-unproven technologies to cut the carbon footprint of its natural-gas fleet. Read More →

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Is This The Beginning Of The End For Private Prisons? The Market Seems To Think So

Particularly in the wake of the nation’s renewed attempts to reckon with racial justice, there has been a greater awareness about the power of money to make social change. Resources like As You Sow’s Prison Free Funds tool are now publicly available, to help individuals “find out if your money is invested in” economic systems like “the prison industrial complex, exploitative prison labor, and immigration detention centers.” Read More →

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