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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... Latest Releases
The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| NOVEMBER 19, 1998 9:16 AM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: US Public Interest Research Group Athan Manuel 202/546-9707 Tracy Graham 617/422-0800 |
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| Groups Target ARCO and Exxon With Shareholder Resolutions ; Call on Companies to Cancel Drilling Plans for Arctic Refuge | ||||
| WASHINGTON - November 19 - At protests in front of ARCO and Exxon
offices, environmental activists announced the filing of shareholder resolutions
concerning the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The resolutions ask ARCO and Exxon
to “unconditionally cancel any future plans for oil drilling in Coastal Plain, 1002
area, of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and immediately stop the expenditure of any
corporate funds targeted to achieve this objective.” “The Arctic Refuge is a national treasure of incalculable value,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Public Interest Research Group’s (PIRG) Save the Arctic Wilderness campaign. “We urge ARCO and Exxon to preserve the Refuge, not plunder it.” ARCO is the second-largest oil producer and the largest U.S.-based oil producer in America’s Arctic. Exxon is the third-largest producer in the Arctic and the largest oil company in the world. ARCO and Exxon are two of the three principal owners of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, controlling approximately 20 percent each. The oil industry already has access to 95 per cent of America’s Arctic. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the last pristine areas left in the United States. Caribou, muskoxen, wolves, polar, brown and black bears, and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds rely on the wilderness habitat that the Refuge provides. The Gwich’in, which means “people of the caribou,” have lived in and around the Refuge for thousands of years. Their subsistence culture depends on the caribou herd. “It is time to move support for preserving the Arctic from the streets into the boardroom,” said Tracy Graham of Green Century Capital Management. “We urge other ARCO shareholders to demonstrate a serious commitment to environmental stewardship by supporting the Arctic Refuge resolution.” Protesters in front of ARCO’s Los Angeles headquarters, Exxon’s New Jersey office, and at a news conference in front of an Exxon service station in Washington, D.C., called on shareholders to support the resolution, and urged the companies to endorse the Mo Udall Arctic Wilderness bill, HR 900 and S. 531. The bill would permanently protect the Arctic Refuge by designating the coastal plain as a wilderness area. “As the tenth anniversary of the Valdez oil spill approaches, Exxon has the opportunity to make amends to the people and environment of Alaska,” stated Simon Billenness, senior analyst at Franklin Research and Development. In addition to U.S. PIRG, Green Century Capital Management, and Franklin Research and Development, the Alaska Wilderness League, Sierra Club, Brian McWilliams, president of the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union*, Greenpeace, Gwich’in Steering Committee, The Wilderness Society, Trustees for Alaska, Rainforest Action Network, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, and the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union are supporting the shareholder resolutions. The Green Century Equity Fund, on behalf of the Domini Social Index Portfolio**, filed the resolution with ARCO. Franklin Research and Development filed the resolution with Exxon. The state PIRGs’ national lobbying office, U.S. PIRG, is coordinating a national campaign to protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling. PIRG also announced that it has posted a 5-minute video on their web site, http://www.pirg.org/enviro/arctic/index.htm. The video tells the story of the campaign to protect America’s Arctic from oil drilling and development. It was developed thanks to a grant from the Lear Foundation. * * * * organization listed for identification purposes only. ### |
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