You know LEGO partners with Shell. Did you know Shell lobbies against the environment?

Posted by Greenpeace UK — 12 September 2014 at 11:29am - Comments
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Dear Lego staff,

I’m writing to you to let you know a little more about Shell, and why Greenpeace has asked Lego to stop working with them.

You may have read one of our previous letters where we let you know about Shell’s work drilling for oil in the pristine Arctic, and about their multiple breaches of safety. But we’ve found out some more information about one of Shell’s key partners which may shock you.

Shell confirmed to Greenpeace this month, that they still fund ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). ALEC is a major US lobbying organisation for big business. It is funded by corporations, including those working in the areas of oil and gas, the gun lobby, big tobacco, food, drink, and drug companies. (BMJ)

Shell is not only a funder of ALEC, but also a member of its Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force.

Stopping renewable energy targets and use


The Electricity Freedom Bill, proposed by ALEC, aims to repeal US state renewable energy targets. The bill was co-written by the Heartland Institute, a think-tank who denies climate change. Since its introduction in 2012, 31 state bills relating to the EFB have been passed. The first, in Ohio, was sponsored by ALEC board member, Senator Bill Seitz.

The Guardian has written about ALEC’s attempts to introduce financial penalties for homeowners who have installed solar panels. They have been backed by big utilities companies who primarily use coal and gas, and who are seeking to combat the booming solar industry in the US.

Teaching children climate denial


The Los Angeles times reported in 2012 that Texas and Louisiana were the first US states to pass laws requiring schools to teach climate denial on an equal basis with climate change, comparing this to previous moves by some states to require the teaching of ‘Creationism’. The Huffington Post reported last year that Arizona, Oklahoma and Colorado have since followed.

The origin of these laws can be traced back to ALEC model bill the Environmental Literacy Improvement Act, as much of the language used is exactly the same. The model bill, while stopping short promoting climate denial itself, does require children to be taught counter scientific theories and arguments, and also proposes that environmental scientists should not be involved in writing environmental curriculums. The bill was written by ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force, which Shell is a member of.

ALEC also has relationships with several well-funded climate denial organisations in the US, including The Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, and NIPCC, a group sponsored by right-wing think tank the Heartland Institute. These organisations attend ALEC’s annual meeting and pay $40,000 to hold workshops for legislators. They also brief legislators on upcoming bills.

Gun laws and the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin


ALEC has a close relationship with the National Rifle Association, and is responsible for the notorious ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, passed in Florida, but also supplied by ALEC as a model bill to other states. This law allows someone to shoot and kill in self-defence, without risk of arrest, if they merely feel threatened by another person. When unarmed 13 year old child Trayvon Martin was shot dead last year, his killer used the law in his defence and was acquitted.

As the New York Times reports, the case shone a light on the work of ALEC, and 72 major corporations who previously funded ALEC cut links with them in disgust. These include Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Walmart. Microsoft has since left. Shell remains a member of ALEC.

And more...


A further explanation on ALEC’s work on environmental issues comes from this PR Watch article

“Over the past few decades, ALEC has been the primary vehicle at the state level for major polluters to push their legislative agenda. Through its annual conferences and “model” legislation, ALEC has campaigned against the Kyoto agreement, worked to wreck regional greenhouse gas carbon trading schemes, block low-carbon fuel standards, promoted off-shore drilling, pressed to keep fracking chemicals secret, pushed for further exploitation of western lands for drilling and mining, and it has opposed virtually every EPA regulation that impacts its highly polluting sponsors. At its recent Annual Meeting in Dallas, one third of the conference sponsors were energy companies, including ExxonMobil, Peabody, TransCanada and 18 others.

We know that LEGO is a company that cares about the environment, and about the education of children. We also know that you have very progressive targets for your own renewable energy use. There is an obvious contradiction between LEGO’s own environmental position and your concern for children’s futures, and your relationship with Shell, who are funding barriers to the uptake of renewable energy, and the promotion of climate denial in schools.

Please live up to LEGO’s values and end the partnership with Shell.

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