In connection with Earth Day, the following people are available for interviews:
KRISTEN BOYLES
A staff attorney with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund specializing in Clean Water Act litigation, Boyles said: “As we celebrate Earth Day 2000, it ‘s important to remember that all life on our planet depends on water. Unfortunately, clean water is fast becoming a scarce commodity in the United States. Despite our need for clean water, there are currently attacks on the Clean Water Act in Congress which would undermine laws protecting our rivers, lakes and streams.”
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RICK HIND
Legislative director of the Greenpeace Toxics Campaign, Hind said today: “The administration has not been as good as their advertising on the environment. For example, on dioxin issues — such as incinerators and paper industry pollution — they have broken promises and flip-flopped. On the consumer level, while the European Community has banned vinyl plastic toys that contain toxic additives, the administration has only called for voluntary measures by industry. Of course, G. W. Bush is an F student when it comes to the environment, but Gore is billed as an A student so when he gets a D, it’s even more disappointing.”
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DAPHNE WYSHAM
Wysham is a research fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies and author of several recent reports documenting disproportionate investments in fossil fuels by the World Bank and other public investment institutions. She remarked today: “Although the World Bank readily admits that climate change will be deadly to many of the poorest people living in the countries it purports to serve, it nevertheless is doling out billions of dollars each year to coal, oil, and gas projects around the world.”
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AMIT SRIVASTAVA
“Greenwash” Awards coordinator for Corporate Watch, Srivastava said today: “This year’s Earth Day, which focuses on energy and global warming, is bringing with it a deluge of deception from the oil and car companies most directly responsible for the climate problem. Corporate Watch has awarded Ford Motor Company the Grand Prize in its virtual Earth Day 2000 Greenwash Sweepstakes Awards for attempting to cast a positive light on its environmental record, which is one of the worst of any automaker. Ford will spend as much money on its environmental image as it would on promoting a new model of automobile. It launched its PR campaign by buying nearly 40 percent of the pages in Time magazine’s Earth Day special issue. Runners up in the Sweepstake include the World Bank, Monsanto, Shell, Chevron and Unocal.”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020 or (202) 332-5055; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
