A new wave of corporate activism is coming to Australia from the United States, according to a study by University of Wollongong academic Dr Sharon Beder.
These corporate activists seek to counter the gains made by environmentalists, to undermine public support for environmental protection and to persuade politicians against increased regulation.
In her new book, Global Spin: The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism, Dr Beder exposes the sophisticated techniques being used by some of the world's largest multinational corporations to thwart environmental protection.
Global Spin reveals that US firms spend more than a billion dollars a year on environmental public relations. About one-third of this is spent advising companies how to counter environmentalists.
There is a whole industry specialising in the manufacture of grassroots support—'astroturf'—for industry causes, Dr Beder said.
'Additional money is used to fund corporate front groups and think tanks to cast doubt on environmental problems and to exaggerate the cost of their solution', she said.
Corporate front groups have already begun to appear in Australia and local think tanks are busy ensuring that economic rationalism dominates the environmental agenda.
Dr Beder said other corporate tactics being imported from the US include Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation—SLAPPs—where citizens who speak out are intimidated and silenced by the threat of lawsuits that have no legal merit.
'Environmentalists arc losing the war of ideas', Dr Beder said. 'By combining activist techniques with huge financial resources, corporations are beating environmentalists at their own game.'
She said this situation poses grave dangers to the ability of democratic societies to respond to environmental threats.
'A good example of this is the global warming issue', she said.
'The polluters have already convinced the Australian Government to represent their interests at Kyoto, contrary to the desire of most Australians to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
'Corporate America is running a multi-million dollar campaign of environmental subversion to ensure that no effective agreement is made at the climate change conference in Kyoto in December.'
Global Spin shows how large corporations are undermining democratic values and setting the environmental agenda.
This corporate activism is happening on a global scale and is having environmental repercussions all around the world, she said.
For a copy of Global Spin, contact Scribe Publications on (03) 9388 9670.
Reprinted from The News, University of Wollongong, November 1997.