Utne Reader (one of our favorite print magazines) published an article titled,
The Big Business of Conservation, wherein author Johann Hari writes, “…MacDonald reports, the Sierra Club Was Approached in 2008 by the makers of Clorox bleach, who said that if the club endorsed their new range of “green” household cleaners, they would give it a percentage of the sales. The group’s corporate accountability committee said the deal created a blatant conflict of interest– but took it anyway. Then-executive director Carl Pope defended the move in an email to members, in which he claimed that the organization had carried out a serious analysis of the cleaners to see if they were “truly superior.” But it hadn’t. Jessica Frohman, co chair of the Sierra Club’s toxics committee, said, “We never approved the product line.”
Sierra Club ‘s reasoning for taking the deal, detailed on their website, is one of the most laughable, transparent whitewashes ever written. It takes no effort to read between the lines, not when they print arguments such as, “But we have also determined that we will not achieve our overall goal of changing consumer behavior by making affordable, natural products available to the majority of Americans if we avoid partnering with companies simply because they have had environmental violations in the past, or make some product lines which we think could be improved.” Or, “Ours is a strategy of seeking major improvements, but not perfection.”
And therein lies the slippery slope. Integrity is absolute.
Their excuses are so flimsy they nearly scream, “We did it for the money!”