THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 57, March 21, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
DECISION TIME FOR J.P. MORGAN CHASE'S CEO
By Steven Milloy
RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS & THE ANTI-BUSINESS, ANTI-GROWTH WAR THEY ARE WAGING AGAINST THE FINANCIAL
SERVICES INDUSTRY IN THE U.S.A. -- THE RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: AN ENVIRONMENTAL EXTREMIST PRESSURE
GROUP EMPLOYING HIGH PRESSURE TACTICS AGAINST THE BANKS, SEEKING TO DICTATE THEIR LENDING DECISIONS & PREVENT
THEIR LENDING MONEY TO FINANCE ENERGY & OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS IN THE IMPOVERISHED COUNTRIES -- THE
IDEOLOGICAL IMPERATIVES OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM VERSUS SOUND BUSINESS DECISIONS ON THE PART OF
CORPORATE AMERICA & THE ECONOMIC NEEDS OF THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
FULL STORY:
Living in gated communities may soon become a necessity, rather than an option, for corporate managers. Radical environmental
and social activists are escalating their anti-business campaigns by taking them into management's own backyards – well, make that
front yards.
Last week, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) expanded its jihad against the financial services industry into tony Greenwich, CT,
to the very street where J.P. Morgan Chase's CEO, William Harrison, lives.
RAN activists put up old-fashioned Wild West-type "Wanted" posters featuring Mr. Harrison and calling him "Billy the Kid." The
posters criticized the bank for "reckless investment in environmentally and socially destructive projects in dozens of countries" and
urged Mr. Harrison's neighbors and friends to "ask him to do the right thing."
Although this may sound like harmless and perhaps even prankish activism, the stakes are much higher than that.
RAN wants to dictate J.P. Morgan Chase's lending policies for the developing world, especially with regard to energy projects and
logging. As an environmental extremist group railing against oil, wood and meat consumption, RAN wants to block lending to
projects it claims may contribute to global warming or involve logging in ecologically "sensitive" areas. Given RAN's agenda, we can
also expect it to oppose loans to ranchers and home builders.
Citigroup and Bank of America ceded control over their lending decisions to RAN in 2004 -- following a similar poster assault near the
home of Citigroup Chairman Sanford Weill – but J.P. Morgan Chase has been a tougher target. Management seemed on the verge of
surrender last October, but was distracted by real business, namely its merger with Bank One.
Infuriated by the stalemate, RAN responded by rounding up second graders from Mr. Harrison's hometown in December, and
transporting them to J.P. Morgan Chase's Manhattan headquarters to protest the bank during school hours, a stunt aptly described
by some as a "ideological child abuse."
Failing to win concessions that way, RAN is now trying to pressure Mr. Harrison closer to home. The intimidation may be working.
A J.P. Morgan Chase spokesman told the New York Times last week that the bank was "on track for April" in terms of a review
of its lending policies.
As we wait and see whether Mr. Harrison caves in to RAN's relentless harassment, RAN talks about increasing its house calls on CEOs.
A RAN spokeswoman warned of more campaigns in the neighborhoods where CEOs live, even if the CEOs support environmental
causes on their own time. "We can no longer afford the luxury of these titans of Wall Street looking at these issues as a hobby on the
side," said the RAN spokeswoman.
RAN isn't the only radical activist group embracing at-home intimidation.
In 2001, as part of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' pressure campaign against Burger King, PETA head Ingrid Newkirk
began calling the home of Burger King CEO John Dasburg. After months of telephone calls to Mr. Dasburg's wife, Burger King caved in
to PETA's demands concerning how the company's meat suppliers should manage their livestock. Mr. Dasburg denied being
intimidated, saying, "The phone calls and information sent to my wife was just one means of communicating with me."
PETA subsequently went after Cheryl Bachelder, President of fast food purveyor KFC. After phone calls to Bachelder's home failed,
PETA dropped leaflets in the mailboxes of Ms. Bachelder's neighbors and threatened to bring a truck with large video screens to her
neighborhood to show footage taken from inside a slaughterhouse.
On the eve of the demonstration, Ms. Bachelder called PETA's Ms. Newkirk and said:
"Please don't come to my neighborhood. I will come and see you."
Though Ms. Bachelder agreed to PETA's demands, KFC's parent Yum! Brands CEO David Novak subsequently pulled out of the
agreement, even though PETA also targeted him at home.
Let's hope that J.P. Morgan Chase's Mr. Harrison follows Mr. Novak's solid example.
Not only would Mr. Harrison's appeasement of RAN encourage more attacks on his fellow CEO's by radical activists, but it's an
unconscionable way to make business decisions.
Mr. Harrison should remember that the fates of millions of people are in his hands. The developing world needs financial services
from the developed world. RAN would cavalierly deprive the people of struggling nations of these crucial resources and condemn
them to perpetual poverty.
What's so socially responsible about that?
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Steven Milloy is an adviser to the Free Enterprise Action Fund (www.FreeEnterpriseActionFund.com) and publishes CSRwatch.com
(www.CSRwatch.com). To learn more about RAN’s pressure campaigns against banks and poor people, see the following websites:
The foregoing article by Steven Milloy was originally published in the New York Sun, March 21, 2005.
Republished with Permission of Steven Milloy
Reprinted from:
pdriessen@cox.net (Paul Driessen)
March 21, 2005
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