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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... 1999
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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| FEBRUARY
24, 1999 12:08 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rainforest Action Network Mark Westlund: 415/398-4404 ranmedia@ran.org |
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| Poll Finds Nearly Two-Thirds Of Americans Against Sales Of Old Growth Wood; Majority Also Favors Banning Old Growth Logging | ||||
| SAN
FRANCISCO
- February 24 -
Findings from a just-released public opinion poll indicate that nearly
two-thirds of Americans believe it is wrong to sell or purchase products made
out of old growth forest wood. Nearly three out of five believe that old growth
logging should be banned outright, and forty-four percent say they would be less
likely to patronize a company if they learned that company uses or sells old
growth products. The poll was conducted for Rainforest Action Network (RAN) by Yankelovich Partners, one of the nation's most respected polling organizations. Yankelovich Partners regularly conducts public opinion polls for Time Magazine and CNN. Of those surveyed, 62.5 percent gave a resounding "no" to the question: "Should companies today use or sell products made from old growth wood?" Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers were most likely to say they opposed use and sales of old growth wood, with responses dropping off somewhat in people over fifty. Twenty-six percent of people saw no problem with cutting down ancient trees, while 11.5 percent were not sure. "Old growth forests" were defined as forests where no logging has ever taken place. "These polling results confirm what we've long suspected," said Michael Brune, RAN's Old Growth Campaign director: "The American people believe it's simply wrong to cut down old growth trees." Additional questions asked whether old growth logging should be banned, and whether folks would be more or less likely to patronize a business that uses or sells old growth wood. Nearly three in five (58.5 percent) think that laws should put an end to old growth logging, with 33.7 percent opposed and 7.8 percent unsure. People feel so strongly about old growth forests that many said it would effect their purchasing habits: 43.5 percent said they would be less likely to do commerce with a business they knew used old growth wood; 41.8 said they would not be effected, while 4.3 percent were not sure. "If I were a Home Depot executive I'd be pretty concerned if I thought that 43.5 percent of my business were going to walk away," RAN's Brune said. Home Depot is the largest retailer of old growth wood products. RAN has asked Home Depot to start phasing out these products, and has staged high-profile demonstrations at company headquarters in Atlanta and at grand openings of stores across the country. "Home Depot is lagging behind," Brune added. "Many large, visionary companies and leaders in the home improvement industry have already started to eliminate old growth wood products." Europe's largest home improvement center, B&Q, has nearly completed removing old growth wood from its shelves. In December 1998, 27 U.S. corporations-including IBM, Dell, Kinko's, Nike, 3M, Levi-Strauss and others-announced their commitment to stop using old growth wood. Only about four per cent of the United State's original ancient forests are still standing. Worldwide, logging and other causes of deforestation have brought all but twenty per cent to the brink of extinction. Home Depot sells cedar, fir and spruce lumber and wood products cut from the heart of the coastal rainforest of British Columbia; lumber, decking and trim from the Pacific Northwest's ancient redwoods; mahogany doors from the tropical rainforests of the Amazon; and lauan and ramin plywood, paneling, tool handles and dowels from southeast Asia at their 700-plus stores in North America ### |
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