Sierra Club Bleaches Dissent on Clorox Deal [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
In an unprecedented move by one of the Big Green [3] environmental groups, the "Sierra Club [4]'s national board voted March 25 to remove the leaders of the Club's 35,000-member Florida chapter, and to suspend the Chapter for four years." What did the chapter do? According to Peter Montague, it was "highly critical of the national board's decision in mid-December 2007 to allow The Clorox [5] Company to use the Sierra's Club's name and logo to market a new line of non-chlorinated cleaning products called 'Green Works [6].' In return, Clorox Company will pay Sierra Club an undisclosed fee, based partly on product sales." Sierra members outside of Florida are also concerned. "The Club's Corporate Relations Committee examined the proposed deal with Clorox and rejected it, but was overridden by the national board," writes Montague. Grassroots members have pointed out that "Clorox was fined $95,000 [7] for violating U.S. pesticide laws" even as it was negotiating the Sierra Club deal. The Sierra Club told chapter leaders not to "seek public media coverage of this internal board decision," reports the Palm Beach Post [8]. Some leaders said "they fear punishment from the national organization" if they speak out.