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Brant Olson - who has written 115 posts on Rainforest Action Network Blog.
Canadian Conservative acolyte Alykhan Velshi made headlines last month with a set of bombastic ads contrasting the virtues of Canada’s “ethical oil” with the evils of “conflict oil countries.” Leading political heavyweights — including Environment Minister Peter Kent — have also adopted the mantra. But a look behind the latest “ethical oil” campaign raises a [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, August 4 2011
UPDATE (8/8/11): @kbockman, and all of the 25 fake Twitter accounts we listed, have now been removed. Publiaffairsinformant.com and Keith’s Facebook page are also down. The links to those accounts previously indicated below now show screenshots taken before the accounts were removed. The office of a former Nebraska Senator working for the American Petroleum Institute [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, July 6 2011
UPDATE 07/07/11 10:34AM PST: Please write President Obama to demand a ban on new oil pipelines until our communities are safe from the ones already in the ground. It was two years ago that U.S. regulators first discovered problems with the Exxon pipeline that ruptured this past weekend and spilled 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) of [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, June 30 2011
Enbridge, the company responsible for the worst oil spill in Michigan state history, is now enlisting Wall St. to help foot the bill for cleaning up its mess — which means the banks backing the $203 million deal have some explaining to do. Last July, an aging pipeline operated by Enbridge Energy Partners ruptured near [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, June 8 2011
Last December, I hinted that the World Bank was moving to adopt stronger new standards on Indigenous rights. After nearly three years of deliberation, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank, announced its revised Sustainability Framework last month. As the largest source of international financing for companies in the [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, May 4 2011
As Canadians were casting their votes in the Federal Election, another important decision was playing out in the board rooms of Canada’s top banks: what to do with Enbridge, sponsor of the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Over the last several weeks, RAN teamed up with First Nations of the Yinka Dene Alliance to put senior banking [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, April 18 2011
Last Summer we had a rather public row with RBS over its role in bankrolling fossil fuel expansion. Since then, the Bank’s PR team has been working overtime to clear the bank’s name — even releasing a 10-page report dedicated to the topic. Trouble is, its bankers continue to close lucrative deals in the tar [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, March 23 2011
CEO Bill Downe’s unmistakable message at today’s Shareholder Meeting was that Bank of Montreal has changed. During his 10 minute speech, “change” showed up 14 times! The “world has changed” he declared. “Embrace change.” “If there’s one thing I hope you take away from these remarks,” he concluded, “it’s that BMO is changing.” I half [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, March 9 2011
Addiction – noun \ə-ˈdik-shən, a-\: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful. (Merriam-Webster) Citi has a problem. Despite renewing its vows in 2009 to tackle “Environmental and Social Risk Management,” including mountaintop removal coal mining, Citi is relapsing into fossil fuel addiction. Last year, Citi raised more than $34 [...]
Continue reading...By Brant Olson, February 3 2011
‘Tis the season for new bank environmental and social policies! Last Friday, UBS was the latest to announce an updated “Responsible Banking” policy. Let’s see how it stacks up. First off, we have to commend UBS and other banks for choosing to make environmental and social commitments public. Transparency is a critically necessary component of [...]
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Tune in: live stream press briefing on @Chevron kangaroo court/attempt to evade justice in Ecuador http://t.co/jzVXBILU via @ChangeChevron
By Brant Olson, August 16 2011
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