Sierra Club bleaches dissent with Clorox deal

Excuuuse me? Corporate sponsorship from anti-environmental Clorox? (See here and here, with a mixed review of Clorox’s attempts to go green here (PDF).) WTF? (And, despite contributing a majority of federal campaign donations to Democrats (hey, they’re in the Bay Area), they’re not the most union-friendly, either.

Why the hell hasn’t Executive Director Carl Pope gotten Sierra to instead “endorse” Seventh Generation or Method, per this NYT story?

That’s what the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club wanted to know, too. When it got too heated up about the deal with Clorox, Sierra HQ removed its leadership. It’s the first time in Sierra’s 116-year history it’s done that.

And, that’s not all. As when people like me questioned the country of origin of tchotchke backpacks with subscription renewals, all Sierra HQ would say was “trust us,” without ever disclosing if they were made in China or where, HQ is now refusing to release details of the contract with Clorox.

Greenwash, indeed:

The Clorox Company seems an especially unlikely partner for Sierra Club because many environmental organizations in the U.S., including many members of the Sierra Club, have been working to eliminate chlorine chemistry for the past 15 years. Supporters of the deal point out that it is a step toward that goal. Critics are asking who's next for partnerships? DuPont? Dow? Monsanto?

And, this came straight from Pope down, overriding questions and dissent:

According to postings on the Club's “Clubhouse” website:
(1) the Club's Corporate Relations Committee examined the proposed deal with Clorox and rejected it, but was overridden by the national board of directors;
(2) The Club’s Toxics Committee was not consulted before the deal was signed;
(3) The Club's Corporate Financial Acceptance Policy says, in part, “The Club will not endorse products.”

No maybe. I will not renew my membership.

And, even more disgusting, Clorox will whip out the Sierra logo April 22:

This Earth Day, the Clorox Greenworks products will begin displaying the Sierra Club logo, the first corporate endorsement in the hundred year old organization's history. National has boasted that some share of the corporate earnings from the marketing of these products will be paid to Sierra.

The “some percentage” is still not revealed, of course.

Meanwhile, per the same blog, Sierra is hugely behind the curve on biofuels, it would appear:

National's Energy Policy is still encouraging the unwise development of biofuels in a state whose water resources and agricultural soils are already overused and in danger of imminent exhaustion. Nationally, other enlightened groups are realizing the folly of many of these biofuels proposals consume more energy than they produce. Someday, Sierra will stop embarrassing its members and will have to admit that both the technology and the economics of biofuels are wrong.

Sorry, but that day appears to be far off from now.